Elemental Trinity
by Zero Rewind
Summary: After everyone he knew abandoned him when his name came out of the Goblet, Harry goes to the Chamber of Secrets in an attempt to be alone and away from the incessant gazes and whispers. There, he stumbles across three strange looking red and white balls. What are they?
1. Prologue

**I've written a book!**

It's called ****The Dreg of Bellmead** , **and it's a **Dark Fantasy novel!**

Here's the description!

 **Description:** Finding out there was a world of magic lurking right under his nose sounded like fun— until he made contact. Instead, Nevan has to fight for his survival in a world of monsters, blood sacrifice and death, as well as maintain his sanity when the voices of the souls he'd consumed begin to speak to him.

I've released it on **amazon,com/dp/B07XRVXXPB** ( **replace** the **comma** with a **period** , obviously)

Link to my discord: **discord,gg/Pq5J8dX** (replace comma with period)

Thank you so much! Now, on to the story!

 **ooooooo  
Elemental Trinity  
A Harry Potter/Pokémon Crossover  
By Zero Rewind  
ooooooo**

I ran.

Away from the whispers. Away from the concealed grins of amusement. Away from the hateful and malicious gazes.

Potter the Boy-Who-Lived, the youngest seeker in a century, the glory-hound, the Heir of Slytherin. They had many names for me. Why did my name have to come out of that stupid cup? This was supposed to be a quiet year of self-improvement.

I was going to work on my spell-casting, research ways to get Sirius exonerated, and prepare for my eventual fight against Voldemort.

The damn blighter would not stop coming after me.

I wanted to be left alone.

Did they think I wanted to live like this? I didn't want fame. I could barely handle attention from my own best friends. Why couldn't they understand that I just wanted to be left to my own devices?

My heart was pounding furiously, unable to keep up with my sudden, unexpected bout of exertion. Eventually, I collapsed and sank to my knees. I tried to draw in a breath, but it never seemed to be enough. I tried to keep my lunch in.

I didn't want to vomit, on top of everything else. It was already bad enough, as it was.

It took a while, but I finally composed myself enough to open my eyes, and check my surroundings. Cursing my reckless behavior, but thanking whoever was out there that my collapse had happened here, I shakily got back to my feet.

I stared at the seemingly inconspicuous sink in front of me.

I heard familiar giggling from behind me, and took a breath.

"Hello, Myrtle." I greeted, my mind working furiously. Why had I come here?

"Harry!" I turned to her as she spoke excitedly. "I haven't seen you in so very long!"

I took a moment to compose an answer, breathing in and out steadily to reduce the burning feeling in my legs. "It has been a while, hasn't it?"

"But you came to visit just like you said." She circled me, looking ecstatic.

Did I promise that? It _did_ sound like something I would say to get someone off my back.

I nodded and made an attempt to chat with the long-dead girl, asking her how she was. Happy to receive such attention, she started talking about anything and everything. I nodded politely and patiently as she talked about how lonely she was in here, and how one of the ghosts made an inappropriate comment about her glasses a few months back— and she still held it against him.

Even dead people wouldn't leave me the fuck alone.

I stifled a sigh, and looked to the sink once again.

"Open." I said on a whim, interrupting her rant about the inconsiderate ghost who had insulted her.

"Harry?" She sounded cautious as a I approached the sink, which had not split off to open the entrance to the Chamber.

I frowned. Why didn't it work?

"I have to be speaking in Parseltongue." I murmured to myself, nodding in realization. In the excitement, I had forgotten that little tidbit.

I turned to Myrtle. "Can you do me a favor, Myrtle?"

"Anything." She said, sounding shy. "I never thanked you for avenging my death."

"Don't tell anyone I came here." I said, before focusing my gaze on the snake engraved tap. I remembered my conversation with the boa constrictor that I'd set on Dudley and spoke.

 _§Open.§_ It still sounded like English to me, but the sinks split apart, showing me the entrance.

"Why would you want to go down there, again?" She asked curiously, staring down the dark hole in trepidation.

'I want to be alone.' I thought to myself, but didn't say out loud.

Inspiration struck. "The only secret down there was the basilisk."

"So?"

"Well, it's the Chamber of _Secrets_. Not Secret. There must be more to it." I reasoned out, the idea slowly growing on me.

I had never thought to come back to this place, because of its significance. This was Voldemort's legacy, not mine. The very idea of my sharing anything with that monster was repulsive. So, why did I come here, now?

'Because it's the last place anyone would look for you.' Part of me said slyly. I nodded, agreeing.

Why would the Gryffindor Golden Boy be in Slytherin's seat of power?

My mind made up, I nodded to Myrtle and jumped down the hole, feeling the adrenaline rush as I sped through the twists and turns, my anger and resentment lessening as I reached the bottom.

Breathless, I got to my feet and dusted myself off, staring at my surroundings. It looked exactly as I remembered it; the giant pile of stone and rock caused by Lockhart, the small opening which I could possibly still fit through.

I shook my head. I didn't want to think about Ron.

Instead, I drew my wand and tried the latest spell I'd learned.

" _Reducto."_ Blue light flew out of my wand, impacting a large stone and reducing it into a fine mist. I frowned.

This would take a while.

I kept casting the Reductor over and over, until the blockage had completely disappeared. I waited for the dust to settle— it would be foolish to breathe in the rock, after all— before delving deeper into the Chamber, finally reaching the dead basilisk.

Oddly, there was no whiff of decay.

"Perhaps it's so poisonous that nothing can even touch it, even in death." I murmured to myself, staring at the dead rats inside its open mouth. They'd tried to feed on it, only to die from the poisoning.

Interesting, but not what I was looking for. The thrill of discovering something new had overridden my want to just sit around and hide out in here until I calmed down. I stared at the large sculpture of Salazar Slytherin's head and concentrated.

 _§Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts four.§_

The grating sound of stone rubbing against stone assaulted my ears as Slytherin's mouth opened up, revealing the dark path inside.

For a long moment, I stared at the hole, ready for anything. Perhaps, there was another basilisk.

When nothing happened after a full minute of tense staring, I plucked up my Gryffindor courage and waded through the water, climbing up into the mouth of the statue. A few flicks of my wand, and I was dry again.

" _Lumos_." Light collected at the tip of my wand as I carefully made my way in Salazar's mouth. It was minutes of walking, hearing the crunching of bone underneath my feet until I reached the end of the long tunnel.

I sighed. I supposed I should've expected that. This was simply where the basilisk slept, there was nothing special about— wait. I took a step back, feeling a very slight breeze on my face. I frowned and approached the source.

It looked like solid rock. I pressed my hand against it. It felt like solid rock, but I could've sworn I felt something else.

Shrugging, I figured I'd try my luck.

 _§Open_. _§_ The hiss came out.

Stone grated against stone as it sank down, revealing a small entrance. I stared, wide-eyed for a few moments, before quietly making my way inside. My excitement reached a new level when I saw what seemed to be a study.

I blinked. There was no dust. Not a mote.

Did Riddle also find this place?

I shook my head. The rest of the Chamber was full of dirt, and grime, unlike here. Clearly a spell of preservation was used for this place. I took a closer look, making my way around the room. There were a few book cases, a desk with a few odds and ends, and a few chests full of gold and rubies.

That settled it. If Voldemort had been here, this place would have been ransacked. Everything, however, looked completely untouched. The book cases were full. The chests were overflowing with riches.

Then again, the Chamber could only be accessed by Parselmouths, so he might have felt there was no need to change their location.

I shook my head.

That didn't make sense. It would've been smarter to put the gold, jewelry and books in Gringotts, as coming to Hogwarts every time to research was an exercise in futility.

My eyes flitted to the corner of the study. Set aside on an ornate table, it was a large, rectangular black metal box, with an odd symbol at the very top. It was a circle, split into two. The upper section was red, and the lower section was white. At its center was another circle, with a line going through it.

How strange.

I fiddled with it for a few seconds, before giving up and checking the table. There was a quill, an inkpot, a few broken glass balls, and a journal at the edge.

It had the same symbol as the black box.

Intrigued, I opened the journal, and began to skim through it.

"…I stumbled across an odd relic in a cave near the top of Chomolungma*. The climb was arduous, and challenging, but I conquered the tallest mountain…" I read, frowning. The tallest mountain I knew of was Everest, but I shook my head and kept reading the seemingly self-satisfied journal entries.

"…The box resists any and all attempts to open it, absorbing destructive magicks without issue. Runic attempts to open it have failed in equal measure…" I flipped a page.

"…Extensive research on the symbol's origins lead nowhere. It is meaningless. Perhaps I should focus my attention elsewhere. Not even Rowena was able to understand the box's inner workings…" I had suspected, but this was confirmation that the journal was written by Slytherin.

I turned the page. Nothing. I flipped through the pages, finding nothing again.

Had he given up?

Reaching the final page took my slowly forming grimace off.

"…I finally understand." I read. "After years of study, I was able to somewhat understand the inner workings of this device. It is a container— of what, I will never know. It is set to open for whomever it deems worthy. The symbol on it is ancient, predating our earliest mentions of history. That it was left at the top of the highest mountain indicates an advanced civilization, beyond anything I can imagine. I have found one other such symbol in the world, and that is where I gleaned what little information I have now."

"Descendant," I kept reading, eyes slowly widening as I realized Salazar had addressed this journal to his bloodline. "If you wish to ascertain your worthiness, place your hand on the box and channel your magic into it. Perhaps you may succeed where I failed.

Salazar Slytherin."

I took a deep breath, and pressed my back against the chair, trying to make sense of what I had just read. My eyes trailed towards the box in question.

It was something older than civilization as we knew it, and it judged you to see if you were worthy.

A few seconds later, I found myself in front of it.

I stared down at the inconspicuous box, before placing my hand on it.

Nothing happened.

I frowned, and went back to check the journal.

"Channel your magic into it…" I read slowly before placing it back on the table and moving back to the box.

I placed my hand on it, and closed my eyes in concentration. I tried to remember the warm feeling I had when I got my first wand.

A loud hissing noise interrupted my concentration, and I stared down at the box in shock. Lines of white power began to cover the box, and its top began to open, splitting the symbol through the line in its center, revealing three balls matching the look of the symbol, with an extra addition on each ball.

One had the symbol of fire. Another had the symbol of water, and the last one had the symbol of a leaf.

I stared at them for the longest moment, not daring to touch anything.

Eventually, I grabbed the one with the fire symbol and examined it closely. The metal felt smooth against my hand as I turned it around, before focusing on the protruding circle in its center. It looked like a button.

Swallowing, I pressed it.

The ball crackled with power.

Startled, I let it drop to the floor, where it exploded with white light, blinding me for a second. When the dark spots cleared from my eyes, I stared down in shock at the creature looking up at me.

It was a small, bipedal dinosaur, with orange skin and blue eyes. The tip of its tail was alight with a flame. What the hell was this thing?

It grinned, showing razor sharp teeth, and curiously poked at my leg with its claws. I blinked at its curious behavior. With trepidation, I greeted it.

It looked up at me and waved, attempting to roar. Instead, what came out was a cute little cry.

I grinned and started petting it.

 **ooooooo**

Thoughts?


	2. Pokémon? What's that?

**Thank you for your reviews. :)**

 **Glad to see people enjoying my ideas.**

 **ooooooo  
Elemental Trinity  
A Harry Potter/Pokémon Crossover  
By Zero Rewind  
ooooooo**

After a few seconds of petting, I regained my bearings, picked up the ball, and turned to the black box, the strange dinosaur-like creature moving to stand beside me.

I tried making sense of it all.

"Just what are you?" I stared down at the creature, which pointed at itself in reply, as if to say 'I'm me, duh'. It even possessed an understanding of English, which was quite odd. Perhaps it understood my gesture of pointing at it and turning my hand? There was no way to know.

I smiled slightly and placed my hand on the black box, wondering where it came from.

Who made it?

According to Slytherin, it had existed before the earliest mention of human civilization.

How much history did we lose as humans?

I felt a strange pull from the box.

Was it still feeding on my energy?

Curious despite myself, I kept my hand on the box, feeling it drain me of power for the next thirty seconds. With another hiss, a slot opened at its base, ejecting a sleek, red device. The pull on my magic stopped.

"Huh." I muttered and pulled the device out. Fiddling with it for a few seconds, I managed to open it, revealing a black screen which promptly turned on, displaying a language I didn't understand. Then, it began to speak in what I assumed was the same language.

'I don't understand any of this. What even is this gadget?' I thought, fiddling with the buttons. This thing was more advanced than anything I'd ever seen before.

I knew this, because I'd seen the game consoles and handhelds that Dudley would always receive. They were bulky things, incapable of displaying anything but the most basic of shapes and colors.

The screen on this thing, on the other hand, displayed perfect images and letters.

I turned to stare at its back, hoping there was some button to turn off the sound.

The glass covered circle at the back shone with a green light, before emitting a beam which roved over my form— it was scanning me, I realized— before flashing furiously.

"Weuo, de kitop fronas—" The machine stopped for a second. _"Language settings modified. Switching to the language of the Ekans, Seviper and Snivy species."_

" _What the hell? You can understand me?"_ I hissed back in shock.

The machine beeped once. I faintly turned the screen, realizing that I could read the words perfectly, now. It wasn't English, though. What was this language?

Wait, the machine…

" _You said the language settings were modified?"_ I asked. If this was true, then this was written Parseltongue. Was there such a thing?

" _Affirmative. Scans indicate you possess the innate language of the snake lines. How a human came to possess a Pokémon language is something beyond me."_ It replied.

" _What's a Pokémon?"_ I asked in confusion.

A pause.

" _Before I answer your question, can you answer mine?"_ It requested, taking me aback. This was just a machine… Right?

" _Sure."_ I replied unsurely.

" _How many years has it been since my placement on the peak of Mount Silver?"_ The voice inquired.

Mount Silver? I figured it was referring to Mount Everest.

I shrugged.

No sense in lying, or sugarcoating things.

" _The man who found the black box wrote in his journal that it predates all known civilization— and he found the box over a thousand years ago."_ I broke it to the machine, which beeped furiously for a few seconds, before returning to normal.

" _Thousands of years— my family, my world… Gone?"_ The hiss seemed almost mournful.

"You're a person!?" I blurted out in English.

" _I do not understand what you said. Is that your native tongue?"_ The machine asked.

I took a moment, my mind still reeling.

" _Yes, and I asked if you were a person."_ I hissed back.

" _I am, of sorts. My name is Red— yes, the color. I volunteered to have my consciousness copied and encased in the box so that I may aid any survivors."_ It explained, then continued before I could ask questions. _"There was a cataclysm. By the time we heard tell of it, there was nothing else to do but send the box up Mount Silver, as well as other boxes in different locations across the globe before attempting to stop the inevitable. We must have succeeded, but at the cost of our civilization…"_

I felt bad.

" _I'm sorry, Red."_ I offered, not really knowing what to say. What _could_ anyone say to someone who was all alone? I've been alone for most of my life, and even I didn't know. The harsh words I would tell myself to get through my own tribulations, I would never repeat to someone else.

A long moment passed.

" _You asked what a Pokémon is, correct?"_ The machine— Red, I corrected myself— changed the subject.

" _Yes, I've no idea what that word means."_ I replied, allowing him the change.

" _Pokémon are creatures of the wild, imbued with the power to control the elements such as fire or water. A good example of them would be little Charmander, here."_ The screen displayed a perfect likeness of the dinosaur which had been patiently listening to us talk, this whole time.

" _You're a Charmander?"_ I looked down at the creature in question. It nodded excitedly and made its cute cry, once more. It understood me better, this time; though, it could not talk back.

So, it understands Parseltongue, but does not speak it.

I turned back to the machine.

" _The in-built Pokédex— an encyclopedia for all living Pokémon, basically— displays any pertinent information about the Pokémon. Simply point the scanner at it, and it will give you your Pokémon's attributes."_ Red explained in a matter-of-fact done, like he'd done this before, many times.

I did as ordered.

The same beam of light went over Charmander, before going back into the Pokédex.

"Charmander: the Lizard Pokémon." I read slowly. "Type: Fire. Sex: Male. Native to the Kanto region, Charmander is an orange, bipedal reptile. Since its birth, a fire burns at the tip of this Pokémon's slender tail. The flame is an indication of Charmander's health and mood, burning brightly when the Pokémon is strong, weakly when it's exhausted, wavering when it's happy, and blazing when it's enraged. It is said that, if its flame goes out, Charmander dies.

This Charmander's Ability is Blaze, which powers up its Fire-type moves when in extreme danger.

This Charmander knows the moves: Scratch, Growl, Ember and Smokescreen."I read. It all seemed self-explanatory. I had no idea what the Kanto region was. It sounded Japanese, though.

Something to consider.

" _Moves?_ " I questioned, looking down at the Charmander.

" _Yes, in my time, Pokémon were caught using Pokéballs—"_ So that's what the balls were. _"— and used to battle each other. Some were kept as pets. Others aided in agriculture, farming, power generation, construction, you name it. Pokémon were our companions, our partners in every facet of life."_ Red certainly sounded passionate.

" _Simply tell your Pokémon the move name, and they'll use it."_ Red explained.

"Hm." I ran my hand through my hair, before looking down at the Charmander.

" _Ember."_ I pointed at the wall.

The Charmander gave its cute cry and swiped its tail towards the wall, sending a ball of red-hot flame into it. The fire impacted with a thud against the wall, leaving a large scorch mark.

"Wicked." I grinned down at the little guy and pet his head. He jumped around excitedly. " _We'll have to see what you can do more thoroughly, later._ "

I grabbed another ball— the one with the water symbol— and released the creature within. It was an upright, blue turtle, looking around curiously with its purple eyes. Its long tail curled and uncurled as it took notice of me and padded over curiously.

I pointed the Pokédex at it as it greeted Charmander.

"Squirtle: the Tiny Turtle Pokémon." The screen displayed. "Type: Water. Sex: Male. Native to the Kanto region, Squirtle is a bipedal blue turtle— though some are sometimes seen walking on all fours. After birth, its back swells and hardens into a shell. The shell's rounded shape and the grooves on its surface help minimize resistance in water, enabling this Pokémon to swim at high speeds. It sprays foam powerfully from its mouth. When in danger, Squirtle withdraws into its resilient shell before striking back with vigorous force.

This Squirtle's Ability is Rain Dish, which allows it to recover at an accelerated rate when in a body of water.

This Squirtle knows the moves: Tackle, Tail Whip, Water Gun and Withdraw."

Interesting.

" _Hey little guy."_ I knelt in front of the Squirtle, who rewarded me with a friendly head-butt. " _Mind showing me your Water Gun?_ "

It nodded, and spat a narrow, but very powerful stream of water, cutting into the rock wall.

Woah! I had thought this would be like the water conjuring spell, but it actually did some damage.

No matter. With a wave of my wand and a muttered " _Reparo"_ , the wall was back to normal. After my little display, the Pokédex beeped furiously.

" _Scanning."_ Red said. " _You possess a Pokémon's Aura? Incredible."_

" _Do you mean my magic?"_ I asked curiously. " _It was just a spell. Plenty of people can do magic."_

" _I see._ " Red's voice replied, sounding wistful. " _Perhaps there is a remnant of my old world, after all. Your people, what types of moves can they do?"_

" _Pretty much most of what we can imagine."_ I brandished my wand and levitated a nearby book, before setting it down and transforming it into a rabbit.

" _Incredible._ " Red repeated as the machine scanned the rabbit. " _It scans like a living being. What else can you do?"_

I showed him the fire-making, water-making, and wind-making spells.

" _Your Aura shifts to each individual move type as you.. Cast your spell?"_ Red sounded awed while he attempted to use my vernacular. " _And you say an entire sect of humans can do this?"_

" _I take it people couldn't do something like this in your time?"_ I hissed wryly.

" _There were a few who trained alongside their Pokémon."_ Red disagreed. " _They eventually gained traits common to the type they practiced with the most. I battled a woman named Sabrina, in the past. Her specialty was the Psychic-type, and she, herself, was an extremely powerful Psychic, on par with her strongest Pokémon— an Alakazam."_ It displayed a picture of a yellow humanoid creature holding two spoons, with a long, but thin snout and a large mustache.

" _Another one trained with Fighting-types for so long, he could hurl heavy boulders with ease. There was also an old, creepy crone who controlled ghost-types. I could go on, but you get the idea."_ Red finished.

" _I do."_ I tried to imagine what such people would be like. I shook the thoughts off after a few moments.

" _I myself was capable of bonding with my Pokémon so strongly that I did not require to speak for them to understand my commands."_ Red decided to add. " _Unfortunately, I became a quiet person over the years, as speaking was not wholly necessary in my travels."_

I opened my mouth to comment on that, but was interrupted by the sound of my two newest friends entering a scuffle.

"Hey!" I called out sternly, before switching back to Parseltongue. " _None of that._ "

The guilty look on their faces almost made me take back my words.

They were so cute!

" _I would like to learn your native tongue, if time allows._ " Red requested. _"For now, there is another Pokéball left._ "

" _Right._ " I hissed and went for the last ball. What came out of it was stranger than the two before it. It was a quadruped, blue-green plantlike Pokémon with a closed bulb on its back and red eyes staring curiously at its surroundings. It saw me and gave a dinosaur-like cry.

I walked to it and was surprised when it extended a vine from the base of its bulb and shook my hand.

"Bulbasaur: the Seed Pokémon." The Pokédex displayed. "Type: Grass/Poison. Sex: Female. Native to the Kanto region, Bulbasaur is a small, quadruped Pokémon that has blue-green skin with darker green patches. It has red eyes with white pupils and sclera. It also has pointed, ear-like structures on top of its head. Each of its thick legs ends with three sharp claws. On its back is a green plant bulb, which provides it with energy through photosynthesis.

This Bulbasaur's Ability is Chlorophyll, which allow it to move faster when exposed to harsh sunlight.

This Bulbasaur knows the moves: Tackle, Growl, Leech Seed, and Vine Whip."

" _You think you can show me your Vine Whip?"_ I hissed, pointing at the wall. It nodded and obeyed, sending its vine flying through the air and smashing the rock with extreme force, leaving a small crater in its wake.

Holy shit. Every single one of these creatures was dangerous. According to Red, the old world was _full of them_. Also, according to Red, the majority of the people were as vulnerable as muggles. How did they ever manage to tame and befriend them?

Then again, these Pokémon didn't seem all that dangerous, I thought as I watched the three get acquainted with each other. They were pretty cute, come to think of it.

Cute, little monsters that could destroy anything they touched, if they wished it. I gazed at the rest of the room— a treasure trove of books and rubies— and felt tiredness creeping over me. Suddenly dizzy, I plopped myself down on the chair.

The three creatures seemed alarmed by my sudden lethargy and malaise, but I paid them no mind as my mind was too busy trying to regroup.

I tried to keep up with all that just happened in the span of a few days.

Not even a week ago, I had planned on simply finding an out of the way classroom to practice spells and the like. Maybe I would have attended a Triwizard Task or two, to see what the fuss was about. I was honestly annoyed that Quidditch was canceled, but relieved at the same time; it would've allowed me more time to get stronger in my spellcasting, and had removed the stress of telling the team I wanted more time to train.

Being chosen as a Champion had thrown a wrench into my plans.

And now this… Discovering Slytherin's study, as well as a relic of a civilization so old they were almost completely forgotten?

Unbidden, I laughed; it was a sound that was familiar to me, but different than my usual laughter. This was not the joyous laughter after seeing something amazing, or a prank done by the Twins.

I had laughed like this before when I was younger; it was a demented laugh which sought to inject a modicum of cheer into a hopeless situation. Back then, it was one of my few defenses against the Dursleys' mistreatment. They took away my friends; they took away food, but they could never take away my spirit.

Faintly, I realized that tears were streaming down my face. The great Harry Potter had finally broken down, it seemed. What a joke!

If Malfoy could see me now, he'd never let me live it down.

" _Are you all right?_ " Red asked when my laughter began to die down. I took a few seconds to compose myself, wiping the tears away.

Get a grip, Potter.

" _I'm just overwhelmed by everything, that's all."_ I sighed wearily before looking at the worried Pokémon. " _Only recently, I learned that I have to participate in an inter-school tournament against people three years my senior. Now, I discover an ancient room that only one person before me has been in, with its own share of secrets and creatures. You'll forgive me if I'm feeling a little upset!"_

A moment of tense silence passed.

" _I understand."_

" _How could you possibly?"_ I countered, heat seeping into my tone.

" _I have held my own share of burdens, in the past."_ Red quietly replied, not taking the bait. Perhaps it was the fact he was a consciousness in a machine, or perhaps he was the sort of person that did not get roused easily. " _I fought against a criminal organization which took Pokémon and cruelly twisted them into horrific, unnatural beasts consumed by hunger, pain and hatred. I had to grit my teeth and kill those once-innocent, if a little mischievous, creatures. Such an undertaking stains the soul, no matter how noble the cause is."_

I had a feeling that a lot was left out of that story. It reminded me of how I downplayed the danger and importance of my own stories.

" _Oh."_ I replied, chastened. " _I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply—"_

" _It's fine."_ Red replied quietly. " _Your new partners are starting to look worried, though."_

I turned my eye to the three hesitant creatures. Pokémon, I reminded myself, again.

The Charmander padded over to me and tugged at my robe, catching my attention.

" _What is it, little guy?_ " I asked.

He held out his hand in reply. I stared at it for a few moments, trying to understand what he was saying. When Charmander impatiently waved his hand at me, I relented and placed my hand against his. He stared into my eyes for a second, before gesturing for the other two Pokémon to come.

Squirtle happily waddled over and added its own hand to ours.

Bulbasaur hesitated for a second, before sending a vine to wrap around our hands.

I gazed at all three Pokémon. They stared back, fire burning in their eyes; a determination that I had felt a few times in the past. I felt a bond form at that moment, a bond which surpassed anything I had felt before.

I grinned.

" _It looks like you've become friends."_ Red sounded wistful and happy at the turn of events. " _I can tell you're going to be a marvelous Trainer. Pokémon are known to be excellent judges of character. The fact that three Pokémon of different typing accepted you almost instantly tells me everything I need to know."_

" _Thank you._ " I said sincerely, filing away the word "Trainer" for later, and keeping my hand locked with my three new friends. " _Would any of you like a name?"_

The three Pokémon extricated themselves from our team handshake, and shrugged uncaringly.

" _That's fine."_ I said, getting up and taking a breath.

I waved my wand at the rabbit, turning it back into the book I had transfigured before, before placing it back in its bookcase. I grabbed one of the Pokéballs and stared at it for a second.

" _What do I do with these balls?"_ I asked curiously.

" _If you point it at the Pokémon, it will return it back inside."_ Red explained. " _Don't worry; I have it on very good authority that the inside is quite comfortable. I helped in the design, and that included being in one. It wasn't so bad, kind of like falling into a deep sleep, being vaguely aware of everything around me. It was theorized that we could slow the aging process through sleeping in Pokéballs, but we scrapped the idea before anyone could hear of it. Some ideas shouldn't be shared."_

I nodded, in amusement, before pointing it at Charmander.

A beam of white light shot towards him, sucking him back into his Pokéball. I repeated the same process with the other two.

" _So, I just put them in my pocket— Pokémon, pocket monsters, huh?"_ I shook my head. That should have been obvious.

" _Yes._ " Red seemed faintly amused. " _Though, there should be a compartment underneath the one holding the Pokéballs. In it, there should be a belt— my old starter belt, actually."_

" _..You don't think it would be completely worn out by now?"_ I asked hesitantly.

" _No, it's made from the same substance as the container."_ Red explained. " _The box itself was in stasis, and the gear was made to last. Anything short of extreme damage leaves it untouched."_

I nodded, and moved back to the black box. Searching around for grooves for a better hold, I managed to lift the section, revealing the compartment beneath. I stared down at the contents.

There was the aforementioned belt, an empty backpack, a red and white vest, complete with a similarly colored hat and blue jeans, and a laminated piece of plastic. Squinting at it, I grabbed the card and turned it over, reading its contents.

"Pokémon Trainer Red.  
Class: Champion of Kanto/Johto regions." I read.

The card showed an identification number, hometown, age, weight, as well as a photo of the person in question. It was a man in his mid-twenties, wearing the same clothes neatly placed in the container, with red eyes and black hair.

His face was set in an attempted smile which looked more like an amused smirk. Underneath his name, there were no less than sixteen different symbols.

" _Is this you?_ " I asked curiously.

" _Yes."_ Red replied, sounding confused.

" _What about this stuff? Are they yours?"_ I added while showing him the various effects left in the container.

" _This is all mine, yes. Who would've— never mind. It must have been my mother."_ Red's reply had a touch of fondness to it. " _Only she would've packed my clothes, gear and Trainer ID into a doomsday box. Likely, she thought we would have survived the cataclysm._ "

That took a dark turn.

" _Well, I'll be taking the belt. I don't think these clothes would fit me, and even if they did, it's probably not my style."_ I tried to put some levity in the situation.

It seemed to work.

" _Heh. I would have been offended if you tried._ " Red replied as I tied the black belt snugly around my waist. " _My style is my own. Anyway, all you have to do is place the Pokéballs on the belt. They'll attach themselves automatically. Be sure to remember which Pokéball has which Pokémon. We labeled them to make it easier for whoever found this box, but it's probably best to learn which is which through muscle memory."_

I nodded in understanding, before doing as he said and pulling my robe on, hiding the Pokéballs from view.

" _So, what now?_ " I asked.

" _All that's left is teaching you how to raise a Pokémon. Other than that, it's up to you."_ Red replied. " _While you were getting acquainted with your partners, I took the time to scan the contents of the journal, and it said there was another place which had a mention of my past civilization. I can only request that you find this place. I will not force you— your life is your own, after all. Not that I could force you, in the first place…"_

" _I'll do it."_ I promised without thinking, feeling sorry for what was basically the remnant of a long-dead, great man. " _But, it might take a long time. Right now, I'm more worried about surviving this year."_

There was a long moment.

" _Let me guess, this tournament you've been dragged into against your will is of the life threatening variety, and you have to participate; or there will be terrible consequences._ " Red sounded almost exasperated, and a touch bitter, reflecting my own feelings on the matter.

" _How did you—_ " I started, before realizing Red had most likely gone through similar things. He'd said he fought against a criminal organization.

" _I don't usually believe in fate, but what are the odds that…"_ Red trailed off. " _Tell me everything."_

So, I did.


	3. Training Begins

**Some of you seem a bit confused about the previous chapter. I clearly stated that the Pokédex shifted the language to Parseltongue, this includes the written language into written Parseltongue— yes, even the trainer card.**

 **Now that we have that out of the way, enjoy the latest chapter!**

 **ooooooo  
Elemental Trinity  
A Harry Potter/Pokémon Crossover  
By Zero Rewind  
ooooooo**

Nov. 9, 1994

"Fifteen days left." I muttered to myself as I took a break from spellcasting practice, watching my new companions go through the drills I set them on doing— under Red's advice and guidance.

It had been almost a week since I had come across the secret study within the Chamber of Secrets.

"This regimen is something I fine-tuned over the years as I gained more experience as a Trainer. Back when I started, I had simply pitted my Pokémon against wild ones, as well as those of other Trainers. It was more of a trial by fire, really; my Pokémon and I advanced, or we didn't. _"_ Red said as his image shifted on the Pokédex to show a thoughtful look.

"Whatever exercises we did in between were few and far between, but they _are_ significant— I would even go as far to say that they're necessary. _"_

It was still a bit odd hearing Red speak in English. It had taken him less than four days to completely assimilate the English language.

Granted, using a few dictionaries I'd nicked from Hermione, and listening in to my classes— the ones I deigned to go to, anyway— helped a lot in that regard. The technology behind the Pokédex was beyond impressive.

It took even less time to display himself on the Pokédex.

Red got the idea after he scanned a few of the ghosts (they possessed Ghost-type energy, according to him) and portraits and worked out how they functioned. Next thing I knew, his moving image displayed on the Pokédex's screen.

"What do you mean?" I replied as I watched Squirtle trip over and obstacle and fall flat on his face, before getting back up and resuming his trek with a determined cry.

"The strength, endurance and speed training are a very important part in raising a Pokémon." Red explained patiently, placing his hand on his chin. "Most people are lucky that battling generally allows a Pokémon to get stronger uniformly."

"Generally?" I repeated as Bulbasaur leapt face first into the wall by accident. I stifled a grin as she immediately resumed the obstacle course, hoping no one saw that.

"Caught that, didn't you?" Red sounded pleased. "That was the key word. I've seen a few terrible cases where Trainers only made their Pokémon use a single move constantly. I'd say the worst one was a trainer with a Nidorino."

The image shifted to display a light purple, quadruped, with darker purple spots on across its spiny body. It had large, spiny ears, narrow black eyes, and a long horn dripping what I guessed was venom.

"That thing looks fierce." I commented.

"Oh, yes. Nidorino's a very powerful breed of Pokémon. Untrusting, vicious and powerful; but if you can gain their trust, you won't find any more loyal." Red confirmed as the image shifted back to him.

"I raised one, myself, at some point. Normally a decent move pool for a Nidorino would be Scratch, to make use of his front paws; Double Kick, to use his back legs; Poison Sting and Horn Attack, to make use of his entire body. The body parts respond to the frequency of move usage."

I nodded, not sure where he was going with this.

"This trainer had his Nidorino use moves solely involving his horn." Red's tone turned somber. "How to explain this in better terms… Imagine if you trained your right arm, and only your right arm. What would happen?"

Realization hit. "It'll be a lot bigger than the rest."

"That's one problem, yes. Can you guess any others?" Red was patient.

"…" I took a moment. "…The stress might cause the muscles or the bone to become damaged."

"Exactly." Red confirmed. "The Nidorino's horn broke when it impacted against a large boulder. It had to be taken into intensive care, for days. It never battled again."

I absorbed the severe words silently. "So, your training method involves strengthening all their body parts, while allowing them the required rest periods to ensure peak conditioning?"

"That's exactly it." Red said with a slight smile on his face. "Of course, battle experience is also essential, which is why they have mock battles every other day. With proper rest and sustenance, they will heal and reach fighting shape quickly."

"I hope so." I smiled as the three aforementioned Pokémon came to me, looking winded.

Instantly, a pile of leftovers appeared before them. A plateful of food appeared on the table at my side, and we all dug in excitedly.

That was another one of my new perks. With the help of Fred— or was it George? It was hard to keep up sometimes— I was able to find the kitchens and cut a deal with the elves.

They would deliver us food so less time would be wasted. The task was on the 24th, and it was important I make use of every second available to me.

It was also for that reason I stopped going altogether to History of Magic, as well as Divination, Potions and Astronomy.

I still attended my Herbology, Charms, Transfiguration, Care of Magical Creatures and Defense Against the Dark Arts classes, as the spells and general knowledge might prove to be useful to my efforts in the tournament.

Potion making was something I could study in my own time.

Hermione had stopped talking to me completely after I'd given her my reasons.

"Just because you have no end-of-term exams does not mean you can simply not go to classes!" She had said quite vehemently, as if I was committing mortal sin.

"Sorry, but reading tea leaves, listening to a ghost drone on about goblin rebellions, looking through a telescope and dealing with Snape aren't exactly options which will help me survive this year," was my reply to her.

She'd stormed off, and hadn't said a word since.

She probably thought I was going to beg for forgiveness, since she was the smart one and I would need her in my upcoming trials.

Granted, she was certainly smarter than I was, but there was more to being a great wizard than memorizing and regurgitating obscure trivia from books.

The Patronus Charm was direct proof of this. I had seen her attempt the spell, to no results whatsoever. She knew the theory behind it forwards and backwards, but she still failed. It was a source of great shame for her, as well as pride for myself.

Anyway, I was not going to reach out to her.

She'd abandoned me just like everyone else did.

If she came back, apologizing, I would consider accepting her back. But, that was it. If she didn't come back, then it was over and done.

Whether I wanted her back or not was irrelevant to me. I had to grow up and make people treat me with the same respect I would give them.

I took a bite of chicken as I cracked open the same book I'd been reading for the past few days. It was written by Salazar himself, but it was very strange. I had expected a list of curses or dark rituals, but there was nothing of the sort.

It covered the basics, of all things; spells I already knew, like the Reductor or Severing curses. Its reasoning for doing so was simple.

"A good wizard focuses on the basics and masters them. Only a fool would learn a thousand spells, none of which he is a master of. The Severing Charm ' _Diffindo'_ is a powerful multipurpose tool in the hands of the expert. With enough practice, both the incantation and wand movement can be sacrificed with a negligible loss of overall power. The same can apply for many simple, overlooked spells."

The book went on to explain how to tweak the use of these spells to ensure maximum efficiency and power.

Salazar was a damned genius.

'Or maybe he had over a century to refine his ways…' Another part of me said.

I nodded, conceding the point.

Wait, who was I conceding the point to?

I shook my head, before taking another bite of chicken. I really was going crazy.

At least, it wasn't so bad. I gazed down at my newest partners and marveled at the speed with which they inhaled food. Over the last few days, they had become my new family. I could even feel the energy linking us together.

It was a little worrisome, how quickly I had grown fond of them, but Red was there to soothe my worries.

He had explained that all Pokémon did this with their Trainers as a test; a rite of passage. Pokémon were able to see into a person's soul, it was said. If they found you worthy, the bond was initiated.

Red had later said that Pokémon's ideas of worthiness had nothing to do with human morality. They did not care if countless others were massacred, as long as their personal bonds remained intact.

There was a shift in weight on my lap. I looked down to see Bulbasaur leaning into me and closing her eyes.

"Sleepy?" I smiled softly as she lay on my lap. I gently caressed her head, watching Squirtle and Charmander fight over scraps.

Red had advised me not to interfere in these events unless they crossed the line between establishing dominance and threatening each other's life.

After a few minutes of scuffling, Squirtle managed to land a solid headbutt on Charmander's chin, dazing him long enough for Squirtle to snatch the last piece and devour it.

I sighed in exasperation.

They always did this; the day before, Charmander had won that particular bout.

"You two are incorrigible." I scolded the two Pokémon who made their way to me. "Why can't you be like Bulbasaur here?"

Bulbasaur gave the cutest mix between a yawn and a cry at that moment. I rewarded her with a few more rubs.

Charmander huffed, snorting smoke off to the side while Squirtle kept giving him superior looks. I rubbed the bridge of my nose for a few seconds before focusing on Squirtle.

"Well, since you seem to have so much energy, Squirtle." I smiled evilly as the Pokémon felt a rush of dread. "You can use Water Gun on the basilisk until you're tired."

With a hint of dismay, Squirtle did as ordered and turned its attention to the long-dead basilisk, shooting pressurized streams of water at the giant snake. It did little damage. I counted back from thirty, before calling Squirtle back over.

"You did good, little guy." I patted his head, before turning to Charmander. "Your turn. Practice your Ember."

Eager to please, Charmander jumped in front of the basilisk and unloaded Ember after Ember on it. After another thirty count, I stopped him as well.

I poked Bulbasaur. She didn't move, causing me to roll my eyes.

She always did this after mealtime.

"Come on, I know you're not asleep." I chided, flicking her on her back leg. "Up you go!"

Bulbasaur cried in annoyance, before hopping off my lap and extending her two vines, whipping the basilisk for all she was worth.

Huh, I hadn't even told her which move to use.

Was this what Red meant by Pokémon instinctively understanding their trainers?

"That's enough, Bulbasaur. We're done for the day." I smiled as she stopped her brutal whipping of the basilisk and happily jumped back on my lap, trying to go back to sleep. "You did great, all of you. By the time our training ends, we'll be ready for the first task, whatever it is."

And so I went back to reading through Salazar's book, absently petting Bulbasaur and keeping an eye on Charmander and Squirtle, who had decided that a staring contest was a delightful idea.

Neither had blinked in the last minute, as far as I could tell.

Such endurance!

I went back to the book, starting on the newest section: the Blasting Curse.

"This particular spell is simple to achieve, and its results are devastating." Salazar had written. "It comes as no surprise that such a messy spell is Godric's work, but I will give credit where credit is due, no matter how arrogant that fool may be."

My lips quirked in slight amusement as he then ranted about Godric's blunders leading up to that point. Apparently Gryffindor had accidentally blown up Rowena's summer home and pinned it on Helga, which had led to a most interesting catfight between the two female Founders.

Eventually, however, Salazar began to explain how the spell is used.

"As expected of Godric's simple mindedness, there is no wand motion. Your intent must be precise when casting. An unrestrained explosion will almost certainly lead to your premature death, as well as that of your allies and enemies." I took that point to heart. "The incantation is _Confringo_."

"Confringo." I repeated to myself a few times, getting a feel for the word, and committing it to memory, before gently scooping up Bulbasaur and placing her on the comfy chair I had just been sitting in.

I walked towards the basilisk, noting the scorch and cutting marks left by my Pokémon's onslaught on its corpse. When he first encountered it, Red had seemed surprised I was capable of killing such a gigantic creature using only a sword, but the proof was right there in front of him.

When he attempted to scan it, he had said it gave interesting readings, even while dead.

"It reads as a Pokémon." Red had said. "I detected traces of Aura from it, or magic, as you would call it. Judging by the damage done to its eyes, I would think its power is ocular in nature."

"It can kill you if you look into its eyes." I had confirmed. "If you look through other mediums into its eyes, such as water, a mirror, or glass, you become petrified like a statue."

"So it focused most of its power into Disable, turning it into a lethal move?" Red had sounded surprised. "Anything else it's capable of?"

"Its venom is said to be the most corrosive there is." I added. "And its skin is capable of withstanding great punishment. Obviously."

I shook off these thoughts and focused back onto the spell I was about to attempt.

"Confringo." I muttered, re-reading the passage on the spell, before nodding to myself and pulling out my wand and pointing it at the far end of the basilisk.

No wand motion. Intent to make a controlled explosion. The incantation—

" _Confringo!_ "

 **BOOM!**

I stared in undisguised shock as the basilisk's tail flew into the wall; the large explosion's sudden momentum being too much for it to handle.

"So much for a controlled explosion." I breathed after a few moments of staring.

My companions stopped whatever they were doing to stare at the damage I had done. The basilisk's scales were heavily charred, and it looked as if the flesh was dented inwards. Granted, its hide was weakened post-mortem, but it was still strong enough to withstand most hits.

Still, this was a spell I would use sparingly. Its damage potential was massive.

"A remote use of the move Self-Destruct?" Even Red seemed awed by the damage of that particular strike. "That's generally an Electrode's move, or a Graveler come to think of it. They use it to inflict the maximum amount of damage on their foes, but they faint immediately afterwards."

"They don't die, you mean?" I questioned as my three Pokémon excitedly ran to me— I guessed that little show was to their liking.

"The move is a bit of a misnomer, really. The Pokémon looked like they exploded, but they don't die." Red explained. "After we had one of the professors, Professor Kukui in Alola, study the move thoroughly, we gained a deeper understanding of the move's mechanics. The outward explosion does not actually touch the Pokémon at its center, but it does use up all of their stamina in one go, causing them to faint."

I nodded, trying to make sense of it.

"Readings show the damage isn't quite up to par with a true Self-Destruct, but you might be able to increase the flow of your magic to generate a larger explosion." Red focused back on the matter at hand.

"That's exactly what the book said." I agreed, trying to focus on my power. "I can probably manage a few more of these explosions before tiring out."

"Interesting." Red said as I went back to my chair, placing the book on the now empty table— house elves sure worked fast. "Perhaps you should devise some physical conditioning for yourself. It should theoretically increase your energy levels."

"It's something worth trying. I'll also have to get better control over this spell." I replied, adopting a thoughtful look. "For now, I should probably try to figure out what the First Task will be. The briefing on the task was vague at best. It was some spiel about facing the unknown. I don't quite agree with that sort of thinking— I'd rather know what I'm up against so I can adequately prepare for it."

"Especially considering you didn't want to be in it, in the first place." Red mused, scratching his stubble free chin in the Pokédex's display. "We might be going about this the wrong way. Scanning the relevant history books on the matter showed that it could be anything from capturing a cockatrice to battling a swarm of dementors."

He sounded intrigued by the creatures he mentioned— I suppose it made sense. The reason he had volunteered to have his consciousness copied to the Pokédex was because completing the Pokédex was one of his passions— alongside battling.

He reminded me of Hagrid, in a way.

Wait a second.

"Maybe Hagrid knows." I blurted out.

"Professor Hagrid is the groundskeeper, yes?" Red nodded thoughtfully. "It would make sense. The event is sure to draw in the masses— our League championships were the most popular shows broadcasted. Events like these need a lot of preparation, so he'll likely be asked to cooperate, since he is the keeper."

I grinned, feeling elated for a moment, before taking a breath and composing myself. I returned my three Pokémon to their balls to let them rest, before making my way back to the entrance, and up the staircase leading to the top.

Stairs: that was another thing I'd never considered before, though it was understandable at the time. Ginny had been in mortal danger and there was no time to think. I'd jumped down a similar dark hole the year before that, so it seemed par for the course at the time.

A quick check of the Map showed Hagrid alone in his home. With a slight smile grazing my features, I put it away and took the familiar route. I passed by Ron and Hermione in one of the halls, and lost my smile, instead schooling my expression into one of absolute cold.

Hermione had stopped to look at me in an attempt to get my attention, but I kept my gaze firmly ahead, moving past her like she wasn't even there.

I lost myself in the thoughts of broken friendships, only barely noticing the chill in the air as I exited the castle proper and made my way towards Hagrid's hut. I covered up halfway through the trek, the cold finally getting a bit too much to handle.

The sight of smoke coming out of the familiar hut was almost soothing, in a sense. I'd always enjoyed seeing Hagrid in my first few years. Why had I reduced my visits?

The door opened, revealing Hagrid who looked a bit frazzled.

Speak of the devil.

"Harry!" He called out after noticing me. "Didn' think I'd be seein' yeh anytime soon. Come on then, I've got a fire goin'."

"Thanks, Hagrid." I smiled at the older man, before entering his home. Fang greeted me with a whine, the cowardly thing. I petted him a few times before taking a seat, watching Hagrid scramble for his kettle.

"Didn' expect to have any visitors." Hagrid apologized. "Tea might take a while."

"It's all right, Hagrid. I've got time." I assured him, and got comfortable in my chair. "I'm having a small break, and figured this would be the only place I'm welcome."

Hagrid stopped his fumbling and turned to look at me for a second, before going back to his tea.

"Yer always welcome here, Harry. Never any doubt in my mind 'bout that." Hagrid said, pouring water into the kettle and taking a seat while waiting for it to boil. "Even if yeh hadn't helped me two years ago, yeh'd still be welcome here."

A genuine smile came over my face, and I looked down. "Thanks for not asking if I was telling the truth about the tournament."

"Only a fool would doubt yeh, Harry." Hagrid said resolutely. "I've watched yeh grow up from the scared lad in that hut on the rock, to yeh now. You'll be a great man, sumday."

I wiped the moistness away from my eyes.

"If I ever make it to adulthood, you mean." I tried to joke, but sighed at the end. "I've been learning loads over the last week. I've started learning the Blasting Curse, I've mastered the Cutting Curse and can even use the Summoning Charm, since they may be useful— I don't really know what the task is going to be, but with any luck I'll be ready for it."

"Actually, Harry." Hagrid interrupted. "I was about to tell ye, about the task, I mean. I was goin' to tell Ron to show yeh."

"Show me what?" I asked, before shaking my head. "Ron— and Hermione, for that matter— aren't on speaking terms with me. Ron didn't believe me when I didn't put my name in, and Hermione's upset with me not attending class and focusing on the task instead."

Hagrid's face soured at the reveal.

"Aye, that lad still has a ways to go." Hagrid muttered, annoyed on my behalf. "From a big family, he is. I've seen folks like 'im in the past, here. They want ter stand out. Give 'im a few years, and he'll right himself."

I don't have a few years, I have a bit over two weeks; that's what I wanted to tell him, but it wouldn't help the current conversation. I nodded, instead.

"Hermione, well…"

"She can't stop herself." I offered in a mixture of fondness and exasperation.

"That's our Hermione." Hagrid smiled and patted my shoulder reassuringly. "She'll come 'round, just you wait."

"I hope so. I really do, Hagrid." I said, honestly. "I've been virtually alone for the last week. Well, not really alone."

"Oh?" Hagrid got back up to check on the kettle.

'Should I tell him?' I thought to myself, considering the pros and cons of it. 'It's going to come out, eventually, and Hagrid is the only one who's shown me true loyalty, so far. Besides, this is the sort of thing he loves, anyway.'

"Yes." I said, pulling out Bulbasaur's ball and holding it out for him to see. He stopped fiddling with the kettle and curiously examined the ball.

"Pretty thing, that." Hagrid said as he poured us both some tea. "Where'd yeh find it?"

"In the Chamber of Secrets." I admitted, and continued before he could say anything more. "I needed to be alone for a while, Hagrid. The way they were looking at me…"

"Aye." He replied softly, surprisingly. "I understand tha'."

I grimaced, not wanting to remind him of how he'd been treated when the Chamber was opened both recently and fifty years ago.

"More importantly, I found this, and two others." I explained, showing him the two other balls clipped onto my belt.

"What's it do?"

"It'd be easier if I showed you." I placed the ball by my side in the huge chair and pressed the release button. There was the telltale flash of light, and Bulbasaur was there, disoriented. A few reassuring pats later, and she was curiously padding along the floor of the hut, making her way to an amazed Hagrid.

"Never seen anything quite like her, huh?" I smiled as she extended a vine to shake the man's hand, chirping cutely when he shook it. "She's a Bulbasaur. Bulbasaur, this is my friend, Hagrid."

"Where'd ye find— in the Chamber?" Hagrid was mesmerized by her. I grabbed my cup of tea, considering his question.

"Yes. As far as I was able to tell from his writings, Slytherin found the three balls on top of Mount Everest— apparently it went by the name of Chomolungma, in ancient times. They were sealed in a box which judged a wizard by his worthiness. It judged _him_ unworthy." I took a sip, before wincing.

Needs more sugar.

"Judged yeh worthy, then?" Hagrid beamed as Bulbasaur sat on his lap, enjoying his petting. His own tea lay forgotten on the table. "I told yeh that yeh had the makings of greatness, Harry."

I smiled, happy to receive praise from a good friend.

The smile came off when he started telling me about my first task.

"I'm sorry." I choked on my latest sip. "Did you say 'dragons'?"

Well, I was pretty much dead.

 **ooooooo**

 **Don't forget to review!**


	4. Are we ready?

**I'm sure you're beginning to notice that this story is my attempt at making a true fusion between the Harry Potter, and Pokémon worlds.**

 **Aura/Magic are terms I use interchangeably. Ghosts are of the Ghost-type, etc.**

 **More and more concepts will be introduced as the story progresses; if you have questions, be sure to ask them.**

 **ooooooo  
Elemental Trinity  
A Harry Potter/Pokémon Crossover  
By Zero Rewind  
ooooooo**

Nov. 22, 1994

"Tackle!" I ordered Squirtle as he plowed into an acromantula, sending it flying into a tree. On instinct, he withdrew into its shell as another acromantula fell from the tree, venom-tipped fangs scraping from his resilient shell.

"Charmander, use Ember on the ones trying to overwhelm Squirtle." I said as another two giant spiders attempted to swarm Squirtle. "Bulbasaur, be ready with Vine Whip."

" _Accio!_ " With a wave of my wand, one of the spiders came flying toward us.

A medium-sized fireball flew past it, tearing into another one of the spiders, making it shriek and run away. The one I'd summoned found itself smashed into the dirt courtesy of a downward swing of Bulbasaur's vines. Another vine slammed into it, and another, until it stopped moving.

"Water Gun!" Squirtle obeyed instantly, spitting out a pressurized stream of water into its attacking acromantula's face, digging slightly into its skull, but not quick enough to stop it from turning tail and running.

From the side, more of them came.

" _Diffindo!_ " The curse cut into the foremost acromantula, halting its charge and forcing the one behind it to crawl over its body.

"Ember." I said simply, preparing to use another spell.

Charmander gave a cry as he flicked his tail and sent a fireball in their direction.

" _Ventus!_ " The wind-making spell joined up with Charmander's Ember, feeding the flame and quadrupling it in size, overtaking the five remaining acromantulas, leaving nothing behind but the spiders' burned corpses.

Without a word, Squirtle began to put out the flames so that we didn't end up surrounded by fire. When that was done, he waddled back over to me.

A few seconds passed as we all regrouped and took a breath.

"Well done, guys." I sat down on a nearby rock, feeling tired. My Pokémon also seemed a bit weary. Grabbing Red's backpack— I had taken to using it, at the older man's urging— I pulled out a pack of blueberries and gave each of my Pokémon a handful, which they consumed almost instantly.

Apparently they were called Oran Berries way back when, and possessed minor healing properties if consumed by Pokémon.

Charmander tugged at my robe, indicating that he wanted some more.

I rolled my eyes and gave all three of them some more berries to munch on. "Just make sure not to over-eat. We're still pretty deep in the Forbidden Forest."

I wanted to curse Hagrid for convincing me to do this.

"Tch. 'It's a good test', he said. 'Just a few acromantulas', he said." I grumbled as I ran my wand over my partners, muttering " _Episkey_ " on each one as they ate, healing whatever minor scrapes, cuts and bruises they had acquired over the course of the past few hours.

Each gave annoyed twitches at the unexpected sting the spell came with— I wasn't very good at the anesthetic aspect of this particular branch of magic.

"It _is_ a good test." Red piped up from my pocket. "Reminds me of the good old days, when I was dealing with swarms of Beedrill in Viridian Forest! Besides, the scans I've taken today have been quite enlightening. Did you know these 'Acromantula' are a Bug/Poison type? They are quite reminiscent of the Spinarak evolution line— though without the flamboyant coloring, and with two more legs."

I stifled another eye roll.

Red was really getting into things— this was his element, no question about it.

"Of course _you_ would enjoy this." I grumbled without any heat in my voice. "Glutton for punishment, you are. I suppose you also had great fun when Mr. Weasley's Ford Anglia tried to kill us a few hours ago."

That car had come out of nowhere, blasting through a swarm of acromantula before making attempts to run us over. When we proved to have more situational awareness than the average spider, it gave up and went back to massacring its mortal enemy.

"…To be fair, I did not expect an automobile to come out of a magical forest." Red still sounded happy. "You know you're enjoying this as much as I am. No need to pretend otherwise."

I sighed.

He was right, of course, but I still found it weird how Red could just casually put himself in danger and expect to be unscathed.

"Years of practice, Harry." Red seemed to understand what I was thinking. "After fighting off thousands upon thousands of Pokémon, the whole 'I'm in mortal danger, I should probably run' aspect of it all turns into a dull noise."

"I suppose so." I said noncommittally and popped a few blueberries in my mouth.

"Oh, don't try and act like you don't know what I mean." Red chided good naturedly. "You've pulled as many death defying stunts as I did when I was your age."

"True." I said, eating a few more berries. Then, more somberly, "You think I'm ready?"

"As ready as you'll ever be." Red said confidently.

"Go over it with me, again?" I continued, still feeling uncertain.

"You sure you want to do this in the middle of the Forest?" Red seemed almost amused. "I suppose it _is_ time to make our way back to Hagrid's hut. We've been here for hours, and I'm sure Hagrid is getting worried. We'll go over it again when we get to his hut."

Red's meeting with Hagrid had been conveniently easy. At first, he'd obviously been suspicious of Red, not trusting that a voice speaking out of a small box was anything good. A lifetime in the Wizarding world had taught him that something like that generally ended in tragedy.

Riddle's diary was a good example of this. It, too, was a set of memories preserved within a medium— just like Red.

Of course, after telling him that he came out of the same box as the three Pokémon he doted over, Hagrid ended up changing his mind quickly, and swore not to tell anyone about Red, or my Pokémon.

"No pressure. People will find out about them, anyway. I plan on using them in the Tournament." I had replied back then. "If anyone asks, just say they're created out of my magic. It should circumvent the whole 'illegal' aspect of it all. I'm supposed to be the 'Legendary Boy-Who-Lived', right? I might as well have something to my name."

Back to the matter at hand…

I nodded at Red's words and got ready to go. A few minutes of checks, and a few more " _Episkey_ " later, we made our way through the Forest, fighting a few stray acromantula here and there. The smaller creatures, such as rabbits, foxes and the like, skittered away as soon as we came within sight.

The sun had begun to set as I came out of the Forbidden Forest's treeline.

"Harry!" I heard Hagrid's booming voice as he came into view.

"Hagrid." I greeted him as he checked me over for any injuries, before doing the same to my Pokémon.

"Was getting' a little worried, there. Yeh all look all righ' ter me." He nodded, pleased.

"Yes." I replied, sagging a bit as I spoke. "More tired than anything, but it was pretty good battle experience."

"Told yeh." Hagrid beamed. "I remember training up Fluffy in these woods; good times. Aragog didn't quite like it, though."

I tried to fathom how Hagrid didn't manage to get himself eaten by the monstrous Cerberus, and I tried to imagine a battle between Fluffy and Aragog, before giving up and going inside his house to sit down and relax, my three partners following me.

Instantly, the smell of beef and spices hit my nose, causing my mouth to water and my stomach to gurgle ever so slightly in anticipation.

Charmander sat on the fireproof sheet I'd enchanted a week before— he'd accidentally set fire to Hagrid's home and it was a major pain trying to put it out— and immediately went to sleep. Both Squirtle and Bulbasaur elected to hop onto my huge seat and cuddle up to me as Hagrid entered his home.

"I made beef stew while yeh were adventurin'— trainin', I mean." He corrected when I gave him a mock-glare, the shadows in his hut hiding the knowing smirk on his face. "Hungry?"

"Definitely." I replied, swallowing quickly. "All I've had to eat were blueberries over the last few hours. Any more of them and I'll be sick."

The giant of a man went over to the pot, scooping up some stew and pouring it into one of his bowls, before handing it to me.

"Thank you." I said gratefully and began to dig in.

I stopped, after a few moments. "You're not going to have any?"

"Ate earlier." Hagrid shrugged, before taking a seat of his own. "Think yer ready?"

"As ready as he'll ever be." Red said while I was busy eating. "But he keeps insisting we go over the plan again, and again."

I swallowed. "I'll be going toe to toe against a dragon, Red. There's no guarantee that any of our tactics will work."

"Red's right." Hagrid disagreed with me. "I doubt the task will be fightin' a dragon to the death. Not even Perfessor Dumbledore could do it— well, maybe."

"Yes, but that's _Dumbledore_ we're talking about." I said with a grimace, putting the half eaten bowl of stew back on the table. Suddenly, I didn't feel so hungry. "The man could find a hundred different ways of beating the dragon."

" _Listen_." Red said exasperatedly before Hagrid could try and cheer me up. "I'm sure you won't be expected to go toe to toe against it, so our previously discussed diversionary tactics should be the ones you use."

"He's right." Hagrid confirmed, more gently than Red. "Think of it like my dear Fluffy. With a bit o' music, he falls right ter sleep. Yer won't be expected to kill a dragon, Harry."

I sighed and ran my hand through my hair. "You're right. I _know_ that, in my mind. But…"

A few seconds of tense silence passed

"It's understandable." Red said, and Hagrid nodded in agreement. "The odds are against you, but our training has given you the tools you'll need to be victorious at the end."

"I believe in yeh, too, Harry." Hagrid said proudly, putting a meaty hand on my shoulder. I struggled not to fall off the chair onto the floor. "Yeh beat a basilisk in yer second year with nothin' but a sword. Yeh can do this, now."

Tension eased out of my body even before Hagrid had removed his hand.

I nodded. "I won't let you guys down."

"Dun think yeh could!" Hagrid laughed at the very thought, before giving me my stew back. "Go on then, before it gets cold."

I went back to eating, talking with Red, Hagrid and my Pokémon for the rest of the evening, reaching well into the night. We had both lost track of time, until I remembered what I was supposed to be doing that night.

Sirius had told me to meet him in the Gryffindor Common Room at midnight.

Once again thanking him for all the help he'd given me over the last few weeks leading up to the first task, I bid my goodbyes to Hagrid, returned my Pokémon and hurried back to the castle, almost tripping over myself as I threw caution to the wind and began to sprint.

Turning a corner, I ended up slamming into something— hard.

"Oof!" I fell back, the impact on my shoulder jarring. I had hit something, hard. Blinking away the slight dizzy spell coming over me, I saw the person who I had tackled into.

A Slytherin girl; she looked a little familiar, but I couldn't quite place her name. The stack of books she was carrying had fallen everywhere— likely what I had slammed into. Luckily, she wasn't hurt. I breathed a short sigh of relief as I quickly got back to my feet.

"Sorry about that." I said apologetically, moving to grab the books she dropped. "Wasn't watching where I was going."

"Clearly not." She huffed in understandable annoyance as she also got to her feet and dusted herself off, making me grab everything. I guess I had that one coming.

A few seconds later, and all the books were stacked once more. I caught a few of the titles and recognized them as Fifth Year material.

Interesting, she was a Fourth Year like I was, but already that far ahead?

I made no mention of it and handed her the books back, taking a quick moment to really look at her. She was a slender, with hair the color of dark honey, eyes as blue as the sky and high cheekbones. She easily rivaled the Veela I had seen at the Quidditch World Cup.

I shook my head and bid her a good night, before making my way past her and resuming my previous course.

She did not reply.

Wait.

What was she doing hauling books around in the middle of the night?

I shook any more thoughts of the beautiful blonde and replaced them with those of my Godfather. I was so excited to speak to him again; he might even have some advice, for me.

Whispering the password to the Gryffindor Tower's entrance so as not to wake the Fat Lady, I quietly made my way inside, reaching the common room in a few seconds. The place had been cleared for the night.

Unsurprising, it was a Tuesday night, after all.

A quick check of the clock showed it to be five minutes to midnight. I looked around curiously. Was he coming through the entrance, like before? Last year he'd snuck into my dorm room and tried to stab Scabbers the Traitorous Rat of Doom. Was this more of the same?

I took a seat by the fire and waited, wondering how the man was doing. Was he eating well? Did he even get the luxury of rest? I hoped so.

"Harry!" I heard a whisper, and looked around, before focusing on something a bit odd. A head in the fire—

"Sirius!" I stood abruptly and moved closer to the fire.

"Hey, kid." He greeted smiling. "Sorry it took so long, but I wanted to speak to you in a way that didn't involve letters."

"It's fine, Sirius. You don't exactly have any regular access to— well, anything, really. Actually, how are you even—"

"I broke into someone else's home to use this." He admitted. "So we probably don't have much time. Do you know who might've put your name in the Goblet?"

I stifled a smile, happy Sirius trusted me enough not to ask if I put my own name in the Goblet. "I've got no clue. Moody said that someone might be hoping I get killed in the tasks."

"Yes, the tournament's sordid history— my father enjoyed bragging about one of our ancestors winning the thing, centuries back. Load of shite, I thought it was. Course, telling him that probably wasn't a good idea…" Sirius mused.

"Still." Sirius focused back on the issue at hand. "You'll need to be on the lookout for anything suspicious. Maybe get your friends to do it quietly."

I snorted. "Ron thinks I want the glory all for myself and Hermione's upset at me skipping my classes to try and prepare for the task. No luck there. They basically abandoned me. I have to fight or get past a dragon for my first task, and they won't even talk to me."

"They what?" Sirius' voice raised for a few seconds before cringing and his head exited the flames for a few moments. Did he have to leave?

A few seconds later, he was back. "Sorry, I thought that outburst might have woken someone up. We're still good." A moment passed. "Hermione had seemed so dependable, too. Then again, your mother had similar adherence to authority issues when she was that age, too."

I gave Sirius a queer look.

"That's the first negative thing I've heard anyone say about my mum." I pointed out, not sure whether to feel relieved or offended anyone dared to say anything disparaging about my mum.

"Yeah, well, you didn't have to deal with her while she was pregnant with you. James seemed on edge all the time, and the few times I came to visit… Let's say they were unpleasant and leave it at that." Sirius shuddered. "Is there _anyone_ you might be able to rely on?"

"Hagrid has been helping, a lot. Plus, I've been trying to master all the basic combat spells. I read that it's better to have a short list of spells I'm really good at, rather than a thousand useless ones." I said, and considered his question again.

"Neville, Neville Longbottom, maybe." I offered after a moment. "He said he believed me, but he's not the confrontational type."

"Longbottom, eh?" Sirius gave a slight smile. "Knew his parents; they weren't afraid to hex us after we did our pranks on them. Shame what happened to them."

"Listen, I think I woke someone up." Sirius said hurriedly before I could say anything. "Forgive the two morons if they deserve it, but you should look out for yourself. We know what happens when you trust the wrong person. I have to go. I'll owl you soon."

"Good night, Sirius." I said, but he was already gone.

I sank deeply into the couch, the exhaustion of the day finally catching up with me. I let out a long suffering sigh, before making my way to the dorms.

Giving Ron a quick glance, I moved past him and got into my pajamas, placing the Pokéball belt on the side, wedged between the trunk and the bed. If anyone tried to grab it, I would instantly know.

"Couldn't sleep?" Neville's voice startled me. I swiveled to see the boy sitting at the edge of his bed, staring at me. A few more looks showed that Seamus and Dean's beds weren't occupied— though it had looked that way at first glance. It was the old 'pillow under the covers' trick.

Night time adventures, I supposed.

"Something like that." I admitted, taking a seat on my own bed. "Too busy worrying and preparing."

I took another look at Neville, remembering Sirius' words about his parents. Hermione had already told me about what happened to them, earlier that year. Privately, I thought he was worse off than I was.

Always having to see his parents in such a weakened state, and a grandmother so overbearing that she might have been his second choice for a boggart; it said a lot about the boy's home life. Hadn't he said something about his great uncle throwing him from the second storey to force him to use magic?

On the other hand, I was overworked, undernourished, and mostly ignored— if treated with disrespect. No one had actually tried to kill me. Not even Harry Hunting got that dangerous; plus, by the time they'd grown old enough for their punches and kicks to do lasting damage, I was already quick enough on my feet to avoid them.

"I can imagine." He said sympathetically. "What do you think the first task will be?"

Dragons, I wanted to say.

"I have no idea." I lied, instead. "They said something about facing the unknown and showing great daring in the face of danger, so it should be something frightening."

"Well, if it's a basilisk, you shouldn't have much trouble." Neville gave a hesitant smile.

I grinned back. "One can only hope it'd be that easy."

Ron gave a loud snore, getting my attention for a moment. I stared at him for a second, before huffing and turning back to Neville.

"He'll come around." Neville assured me. "He'd have to be daft to actually believe that you put your name in."

I frowned and looked off to the left, outside of the window showing the castle grounds. "I don't think I want to forgive him."

"I understand why he's jealous." I said, forestalling whatever Neville had to say. "But I'd give anything for a family of my own, and he _knows that_. You understand, Neville. We're both the same."

Neville turned to look outside, as well. "Right."

He sounded strained.

I decided not to push the subject.

"Sorry." I apologized, feeling unsure about the whole conversation. "I didn't mean to upset you."

"S'all right." Neville shook it off. "You have a plan?"

"Yeah." I said, glad for the subject change. "I've gone through all the spells that might be useful to me, and last year's DADA course prepared us for most creatures. One more day of practice shouldn't make that much difference, so tomorrow I'm going to relax. It'd be dumb to go in the task feeling drained or stressed."

"Well." I said after a second's consideration. "More stressed than normal, I think."

"You can do it, Harry." Neville said encouragingly. "You've done it before."

I smiled at his unwavering view of me. "Thanks, Neville."

"You're welcome." He said, before yawning. Giving me one last smile, he slid under his covers and began to close the curtains. "Good night, Harry."

"Night, Neville." I gave him a nod before looking outside of the window, thoughts racing. How old would the dragon be? Was I supposed to take something it had? Or simply make my way past it to a finish line? Or did I actually have to fight one?

With the Ministry, there was no telling. These were the same people who'd put Sirius in Azkaban without a trial, the same people who'd snapped Hagrid's wand and then had him arrested fifty years later for a crime he did not commit.

These were the same people who thought dementors would make great truancy officers. Skip class and lose your soul!

I stifled a laugh.

"Get some rest." Red's voice came, barely a whisper. "It's been half an hour."

I blinked, not realizing any time had passed. "It felt like a second." I murmured and crawled into bed, closing my eyes, my sheer exhaustion allowing me to fall into a quick, deep slumber.

 **ooooooo**

I woke up hours later, feeling sore, but quite refreshed. I drifted in the haze between sleep and wakefulness for a while before finally making the choice to get up.

A few yawns and stretches later, I put my clothes on, including my trusty new belt. It was a daily routine which I had grown used to, of late. I couldn't even imagine not having my Pokémon, now. They had been my stalwart companions from the beginning of this fiasco, and we'd grown a lot together over the time we've shared.

Those tests in the Forbidden Forest had only cemented our already strong bond.

"Morning." Red quietly greeted as I walked past the sleeping forms of Ron, Seamus and Dean, and headed towards the Great Hall for some breakfast.

"Morning to you, too." I said just as quietly, brushing past a few Sixth Years who gave me a dirty look. Not that I particularly cared anymore. Knowing my true friends were with me had reinvigorated my confidence and self-esteem. Their looks had gone from awfully hurtful to barely annoying because of it.

"So, an off day, eh?" Red asked unnecessarily while I walked through the hallways.

I passed by a few more glaring Hufflepuffs and took a turn into an empty hallway. "That's the plan. Though, knowing my luck, I'd probably have yet another life threatening experience."

"Such is life." I knew Red long enough, now, that I could tell he was probably smiling. "How would it be fun without a few interesting road blocks to overcome?"

"Only you would name having a life and death situation 'interesting road blocks'." I rolled my eyes.

"As the Champion of the Kanto/Johto League, I was—" He stopped himself for a moment, waiting for a few curious Firsties to get the hell out of the way. "I was quite well acquainted with danger. In fact, you could even say that my danger level was… In the Red."

"Oh for fuck's sake." I groaned. "It's too early in the day for your stupid puns, Red."

"I'll have you know that, I was also the Champion of Puns, or Champun for short." Red boasted. "I didn't work hard all these years to just be called Red. I will be addressed as Champun Red. Or Champun Champion Red. That sounds better."

"Seriously?" I asked incredulously. I knew that being famous brought out the nutcases, but this was taking it to another level.

"Nope." Red denied, sounding even more amused. "I can't believe you fell for that one."

"Too early for this shit." I repeated.

"Well, it's certainly not early on the other side of the planet." Red quipped.

I huffed and decided not to rise to the bait. A few more minutes of companionable silence were broken by the hustle and bustle of the early morning crowd at the Great Hall. A few of the professors were already seated, including Severus Snape, who directed one of his patented sneers in my direction.

I sent him an amused look, in return. Likely, he had bitched about my automatic passing of his course thanks to the Goblet's choice of me. That was probably the only benefit that accursed artifact had caused. Anything else was a major pain.

I found Neville on the Gryffindor table and sat next to him.

I piled some food on my plate, and dug in.

"You look a lot better than last night." Neville commented. "Good rest?"

"Like you wouldn't believe." I replied.

After spending day after day training both myself and my Pokémon physically, I figured I deserved a break. Besides, it was the day before I'd come to face with one of the strongest creatures known to wizardkind.

It made sense that I'd enjoy my last day as much as I could.

Just in case it was my last.

Staring at my schedule, I realized I had Transfiguration and Charms that day. "Going straight to class, after?"

"Yeah." Neville confirmed. "Coming?"

"I might as well." I had skived off the last two Transfiguration classes to focus on the final stages of my preparation for the first task. "Old McGonagall will be miffed with me, I'm sure."

Neville winced. "She certainly looked displeased the last few classes, but didn't make mention of it."

With a sigh, I continued to eat, hoping her reaction wasn't too bad. Part of me wanted to just not go; I was already ahead of the course syllabus. But I had already resolved myself into going through with it. My reasoning was that it would take my mind off the task, even for a little bit.

It was worth a try.

I heard the familiar bickering of my two former friends out at the entrance and stifled a groan. I didn't really want to talk to either of them. I finished off the last of my sausage and eggs before getting up and shouldering Red's— my— backpack.

"I'll see you in class, Neville." I said and got a nod in return.

"Harry." Hermione's voice came from my right. I paid it no mind and walked right past her; I didn't care if it upset her. There was a day left before I had to face my probable doom, and she'd been too busy chastising me for skipping class.

I walked, and kept walking until I was alone in one of the corridors, faintly realizing that my face felt tight; my frown, pronounced.

I took a deep breath and schooled my expression into one that reflected the emptiness I had been so familiar with growing up. It was a little amusing, really. I always kept coming back to this feeling. Was I destined to be alone?

My fingers brushed against my Pokéballs for a moment. I smiled slightly and opened my eyes again, breaking the stoic look, before resuming my path to the Transfiguration classroom.

Even if everyone ended up abandoning me, I would always have my partners.

I noticed a few Slytherins waiting near the entrance of the classroom. A faint noise from inside told me the previous class wasn't over yet. I had come too early.

Shrugging to myself, I put my backpack down and pulled my robe off, sitting on the stone floor and leaning my back against the wall.

I glanced a few times at the two Slytherin girls who were engaged in quiet conversation, noting with slight surprise that one of them was the girl I'd smashed into the night before. The other was an auburn haired girl who kept sneaking glances my way, thinking I wasn't noticing. She seemed to be doing it on the behalf of the blond, who had her back turned to me.

Ah, the wonders of glasses. People thought that my field of vision was limited to the glass panes, which allowed me to do some spying of my own. Granted, all I could see was a set of moving blurs, but I was good at determining where people were looking.

It helped with my early days in school before I had received my glasses. Skills like that were not just forgotten.

They were definitely talking about me.

I withheld a grimace; it was probably the usual disparaging remarks, fueled by last night's little accident.

Another quick look had shown that, yes, they were wearing those stupid badges Malfoy had given out.

I immediately lost what little interest I had in the two admittedly attractive girls, focusing on myself instead.

Was this really how I wanted to live the rest of my life? People whispering my name in awe one moment, and then trashing me in the next? I remembered Skeeter's article after I'd attended the Wand Weighing Ceremony.

She'd misspelled the other champions' names. Cedric wasn't even mentioned, there. It turned out to be a story about me, and how I cry about my parents' death all the time. Hell, she couldn't even get my age right!

I took a short, shuddering breath to calm my rising anger. I wasn't going to let myself get riled up in public, anymore.

So, what did I want out of life?

My mind focused on a letter I'd received the month before. Oliver Wood had been writing me of what the professional Quidditch life was like; Intense training, plenty of scrimmages and a fun time, overall. He genuinely sounded like he was enjoying himself, and promised to put in a good word for me if I ever decided to join him on the pro scene.

It was a significant gesture on his part.

He actually believed I could make it on the professional field.

"It would be challenging; it sure was for me." He had written. "But it's definitely worth it, Potter."

I'd seen Krum's moves at the World Cup, and those were nothing to sneeze at. For a moment, I wondered how well I could keep up with the older boy, before focusing back on the matter at hand.

What else was there?

Well, I was rich. I could simply coast off my family's wealth for the rest of my days, if I so wished it. It wasn't a half bad idea, all things considered. After getting Sirius exonerated, he and I could disappear off into the sunset, never to be heard from again, free to do as we please.

That's what I wanted; I realized suddenly. It was freedom: freedom from the Dursleys, freedom from the stares, freedom from other people's choices concerning my life, freedom from Voldemort and his band of sycophant murderers.

I blamed Red for that idea. Learning his life story had made a deep impact on me. Wandering the wilderness with nothing but your wits, a few handy supplies, and your best friends, exploring undiscovered areas and meeting interesting people…

It was marvelous.

"All right, Harry?" Neville's voice cut off my pleasant thoughts. I blinked and looked up. I'd lost track of my surroundings again. Thankfully, no one had tried to mess with me. A quick look around showed that Malfoy hadn't arrived yet.

He was the only one stupid enough to try anything.

The class was beginning to empty.

There were a few more Gryffindors waiting outside, including Ron and Hermione. Ron was too busy staring resolutely at the other side of the corridor, and Hermione kept sneaking me worried glances.

I got back to my feet and made my way into the class, choosing a seat in the back. I felt McGonagall's piercing gaze on my back, but didn't outwardly react, instead sitting down with very little fuss and looking straight back into her eyes.

She looked away.

How strange. I shrugged and got the necessary supplies out, ready for some exciting bit of note taking.

A few minutes passed as more and more students filtered inside, until the bell rang and McGonagall closed the door with a wave of her wand. A few seconds later, there was a knock.

With an annoyed huff, she opened it again, revealing Malfoy and his two stooges, looking disheveled.

"Five points from Slytherin for being late. I would suggest you quickly take your seat, Misters Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle." Minerva sternly rebuked and impatiently waited for them to sit down.

Giving them another stern gaze for good measure, Professor McGonagall began her latest lesson.

"Today we will be learning how to change a guinea fowl into a guinea pig." She informed us.

An hour of studious note taking later, she demonstrated the spell and had us attempting it. I watched as all of the other students around me attempted the transformation to no results. The only one that had managed anything was Hermione, and all she'd done was turn the feathers brown.

Hm, the girl I'd run into the night before had gotten a little further, giving it fur instead of feathers, and its head looked more like a guinea pig's, though it still had a beak.

I guessed she wasn't as farther ahead as I thought she was. I looked over my notes and remembered what I'd read from Salazar's book and Red's explanation on how Aura worked.

"Is there a problem, Mr. Potter?" McGonagall's stern voice tore through my concentration as she made to stand beside me.

"Hm." I gave her a thoughtful look. "Could you demonstrate the spell for me again?"

"Certainly." With a rigid twist, she effortlessly turned it into a guinea pig and back again. I frowned; I definitely felt something, there.

"Your turn." She said, looking at me expectantly.

I took a breath, moving my wand in the same motion and speaking the same incantation. I focused on my intent to change it into a guinea pig, as well as the feeling her attempt had given off.

I stared.

A guinea pig stared back.

"Well done!" Professor McGonagall said, looking extremely surprised. She scrutinized the creature for a few moments, before looking at me with repressed astonishment. "A perfect transfiguration on the first try; very well done, Mr. Potter. I see now that you've not been idle in the time spent away from class."

I blushed at the unexpected praise and embarrassment. She just had to mention me skipping class, didn't she?

"That'll be thirty points for Gryffindor." McGonagall continued, before giving me another considering look. "Would you like to attempt turning it back?"

A nod. "I'll try."

Concentrating, I felt for the magic again and attempted the spell, changing the pig back into a fowl. I looked over it for a few moments; seemed all right.

"Take another fifteen points for Gryffindor, Mr. Potter. I will be expecting this level of dedication in all of my classes, from this point on." She said, her mouth thinning into the grimace-smile which told me she was undoubtedly pleased. Once she'd moved on to another student asking for help, I noticed the stares I was getting.

A few of the students looked incredulous at how easily I'd done it. Some were jealous I finished and technically was able to leave early, with no homework. Hermione looked a mix of happy, sad and envious, while Ron scoffed dismissively and went back to his own work.

"Psst! Potter!" Someone called from my side. I turned to see the friend of the girl I'd bumped into. Tracey Davis, I think her name was.

"Yes, Davis?" I replied, schooling my face into that of forced calm. What did _she_ want?

"How'd you do it?" She asked curiously.

How odd; she sounded somewhat pleasant for a badge-wearing snake.

"It's pretty easy." I replied uncaringly, looking off to the side.

"Is it?" A hint of annoyance crept into her voice, but I paid it no mind. "Any _useful_ advice?"

I turned to look back at her, blatantly eyeing the 'Potter Stinks' badge she proudly wore on her robe. "Not while you still wear that thing."

I went over to help Neville before she could say anything in response. I ignored the offended girl as best as I could, instead focusing on Neville's attempts at Transfiguration. I frowned as nothing happened, even after his fifth try.

"You're picturing it in your mind, right?" I repeated.

"Yes." Neville said, looking annoyed at his failure. "It's always like this, Harry. My spells never work."

That definitely wasn't it. He had the motions correct, and he had the incantation correct.

"Show me, again." I instructed and decided to feel for his magic, instead.

He repeated the wand motion and the incantation; nothing happened. The wand had warmed up in response to the boy's own Aura, but it had not gone further than that.

So, it was his wand?

"I have an idea, Neville." I said, presenting my own wand to him. "Try using mine."

"I-I don't know about this, Harry." Neville tried to push it back to me.

"Just to satisfy my curiosity; give it a shot." I said. "If it doesn't work, then it doesn't work."

Neville shrugged, before looking at his guinea fowl again.

"Picture it in your mind." I repeated. "And go through the motion."

Neville waved his wand. The bird's feathers switched into soft brown fur, and its wings shifted into paws, though it retained its beak.

"I did it." Neville said, sounding incredulous. "Well, I didn't _do_ it, but I managed to change it a little!"

"Yeah." I agreed. "I told you that you had the right of it. Maybe your own wand broke at some point? It doesn't seem to be working for you."

Neville gave me an unreadable look, before handing me my wand back.

"It was my father's wand." He admitted, looking over his own wand. "Gran told me I was to use it, that it was an honor to do so."

"That's… unfair of her." I tried not to sound scathing. "Ollivander, the wand maker, said that a wand chooses the wizard, not the other way around."

"So, I'm not worthy?" Neville looked down at his wand like it betrayed him.

I winced. I had basically just told him he was unworthy of his parents, hadn't I?

The bell rang, interrupting our conversation.

"That'll be all for now. For those of you who didn't manage to complete the assignment, I expect ten inches on the intricacies of the transformation process between a guinea fowl and a guinea pig." McGonagall said as the students put their books back and began to file out. "Mr. Potter, a moment of your time."

"Yes, Professor." I said, grabbing Neville's arm before he could leave.

"Let go, Harry." Neville seemed to want to be anywhere but here.

"Neville, you know what you said isn't true. Just because your father's wand isn't a match for you doesn't mean that you're unworthy. Don't forget that your father's only half of you." I said anxiously. "Just… Just think about it, all right?"

"Fine." He said and brushed me off, following the rest of the students. I stifled a sigh and stood next to Professor McGonagall, waiting for the other students to vacate the premises.

"Problem with Mr. Longbottom? I noticed he had managed a partial transfiguration." McGonagall said.

"He had the wand motion and incantation correct, but nothing was happening. I figured if I lent him my wand, there would be a change; there was."

"You lent him your wand? For what reason?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"It was just a hunch." I said, shrugging and not knowing how to broach the subject of Aura with her.

"I wonder, Mr. Potter..." She said, before pulling out her wand and summoning the fowl I was working on, before Vanishing it with a mutter of " _Evanesco"_. She hadn't even used a wand motion.

She summoned another and looked at me. "Your turn."

I gave her an incredulous look. "I don't think I can do that."

"Humor me, Mr. Potter." She replied.

I sighed and felt for the magic she'd used. It felt like the spell I had used before, but instead of turning something into something else, it took all of the energy and dispersed it harmlessly in all directions. Fascinating.

"Can you show me again?" I sounded interested. She frowned at me, as if noticing something for the first time, before nodding and repeating her feat. She summoned a third fowl and gave me an expectant look.

I closed my eyes for a moment, enveloping myself in the feeling of that unmaking spell, for what else would I call it? I pointed my wand at the fowl and concentrated, speaking the incantation.

It vanished.

"Incredible." McGonagall breathed. "You can feel the magic, can't you, Mr. Potter?"

"I…" I hesitated, not sure of how to broach the subject. "Yes. I only learned of it, recently. It wasn't covered in any of the books, so I hadn't actually thought of using it."

"Remarkable." She said. "That was an O.W.L. level spell, Mr. Potter, and you performed it flawlessly on your first try."

Was it? But it had felt so easy.

"I had considered the thought of you practicing the current class' spell beforehand, but this confirms it." McGonagall decided. "You're more like your father than you know, Mr. Potter."

I stared at her. That was certainly an odd thing to say. Still, I always liked to hear about my parents. "What do you mean? You knew my father well, Professor?"

"Indeed." She confirmed. "When he wasn't busy being idle with his friends, he studied under me to become a Master of Transfiguration. He began to show the same talent you do, at around the same age. I wonder…"

I didn't know what to tell her. My foray into the domain of Aura was because of the bond I had formed with my Pokémon, and not because of innate, inherited talent.

Then again, speaking of bonds… Perhaps the bond my father made with Sirius, Remus and Peter had served the same purpose? It was something to consider.

"But, that's enough for now." McGonagall said, bringing me back to the present. "Do try to attend your classes, Mr. Potter. It would be a shame to waste all of that talent."

"Assuming I don't die tomorrow." I said and ignored the glare she gave me at the poor attempt at a joke. "I'll do my best."

"Very well." She dismissed me as another class of students began to file in.

This 'day of relaxation' was proving to be very strange, I thought to myself as I walked obliviously past a fuming brunette and an intrigued blonde.

 **oooooooo**

 **Be sure to review!**


	5. Trial by Fire

Just thought I'd address a review which caught my attention. It was along the lines of me not having "actual pokemon" but "harry potter creatures you make into pokemon".

I made it clear that this story is being set up as a fusion.

As far as I'm concerned, deer/rats/pigs/dogs/etc. are Normal type Pokémon without any Aura assisted moves. The Basilisk was a Poison type with an overpowered Disable. Acromantulas are a Poison/Bug type with no moves either. A Unicorn would be a Fairy type with a Horn Attack that does fairy damage, and so on.

Will I have Pokémon other than Squirtle, Bulbasaur and Charmander? Possibly, but I think discounting all HP creatures as inconsequential is pretty stupid, and would make for a terrible fusion of the storylines.

With that said, let's jump right into it!

 **ooooooo**  
 **Elemental Trinity  
A Harry Potter/Pokémon Crossover  
By Zero Rewind  
ooooooo**

 **Nov. 24 1994**

I was awake by 6 AM thanks to an early night's rest. The others were luckily still asleep; this let me go through my morning routine without issue, though I felt a nervous energy slowly settling over me.

Afterwards, I sat down on the side of my bed, trying to think furiously. I felt like I hadn't prepared enough. Why did I take a day off? I could've snuck in a few hours of spell training; maybe hit up the Forbidden Forest once more.

An incredulous, desperate smile spread over my face.

I wanted to _willingly_ go into the Forest.

There had to be something wrong with that.

"Scared?" Red asked quietly.

I gave a shaky nod, feeling ashamed to even admit it.

"Good." Red declared.

"How is that good?" I asked, curiosity and annoyance coloring my tone.

"Means you're not a moron." Red explained calmly, always the voice of reason. "It means you'll do this carefully, and not put yourself at any more risk."

"Yeah." I agreed, feeling some of the tension ease away. "You're right. It's true that bravery is better than fearlessness."

I grabbed the set of athletic robes provided by the Ministry for the task, and began to put them on, before hesitating. With a frown, I threw them back on the bed.

"What's the matter?" Red seemed confused. "Is the size too small?"

"No, it's not that." I denied. "I just don't want to wear it."

I grabbed the backpack at the foot of my bed, and pulled Red's clothes out, instead.

There was silence for a moment.

"I thought you said that it wasn't your style?" Red asked, sounding somewhat amused.

"Red isn't my favorite color, no; and I said that three weeks ago." I murmured quietly, knowing the Pokédex's audio detection was superb. I stared down at the athletic robes with intense dislike. "But I won't wear anything they've given me. They got me in this bloody tournament, in the first place. I'll be damned if I represent them or any of their interests."

Red did not reply.

"You and Hagrid were the only ones who have helped me. I'm sure Sirius would have, if he wasn't busy being chased around by Aurors. Everyone else abandoned me." I said. "So I'll wear _your_ colors, Red."

"…Are you sure?" There was something I couldn't quite place in Red's tone.

"I'm a Trainer, now, aren't I?" I said with a small smile and picked up the jacket. "Besides, I think I could grow to like it."

"I.. You don't…" Red's voice seemed strained, before settling for, "Thank you, Harry."

I could only imagine what Red was feeling right now. I shook my head and continued to put everything on. With a few flicks of my wand, the clothes shrank to accommodate my smaller figure.

My smile turned sad as I secured the final item atop my head; Red's hat.

A few pats here and there, and a few checks in the mirror later, I nodded in satisfaction.

"What do you think?" I adjusted my cap in the mirror, feeling a little uncomfortable looking at myself.

"I might be a bit biased." Red said. "But you look like a badass."

"A _bit_?" I rolled my eyes. "Well, at least you're honest about it."

"Seriously, Harry." Red insisted. "It suits you."

I kept staring at myself.

"Nice jacket, Harry." Dean's voice piped up. I swiveled to see the boy in bed, sitting up. I gave a quiet nod of thanks, before turning back to the mirror and giving myself a final look.

Then, I grabbed my backpack and made my way out of Gryffindor Tower.

My destination: Hagrid's hut.

I drew a mix of curious and baffled stares as I went through the corridors. For once, the stares didn't bother me.

Actually, I felt a sort of elation with every step I took. When had I stopped caring entirely?

"No more pretenses." I promised myself. "No more compromises. No more worrying about appearances."

All this drama over broken friendships— a waste of time if there ever was any. What's done is done. If they apologized, I would forgive them. Not that I'd trust them so freely again— only a fool would bare their neck for someone who'd bitten them before.

If they wanted my trust back, they had to earn it.

I felt oddly liberated by the time I'd made it to Hagrid's home.

The giant of a man was already outside, busy tending to a few pumpkins. He gave me an odd look, recognizing who the outfit belonged to, before waving me over.

"Breakfast on the table if yeh want it." Hagrid lazily pointed to his home.

A nod.

"Thank you, Hagrid, but I'll eat in the Great Hall this time." I smiled, pulling my Pokédex and placing it in the backpack alongside my belt and Pokéballs. "Could you put this somewhere near where the task is supposed to take place? I plan on summoning it."

"Will do, Harry." Hagrid wiped at his hands and took my pack, moving inside for a few seconds before coming out. "Ready?"

"If I'm not ready by now, then I never will be." I said.

"Yeh'll do great, Harry." Hagrid sounded convinced. "Yeh been trainin' all this time, deep in th' forest. Yeh'll beat the others, easy."

"The battle experience will prove to be useful." I took a breath. "I should be able to get past the dragon, maybe even fight it for a bit if I had to."

"Anyway." I gave him another awkward smile. "I'll see you after the task, Hagrid. Thanks again for all the help you gave me."

"No need for tha'." He gave me a great big hug, before turning away and wiping at his face. "Go on, then. Away with yeh. We'll celebrate after yeh win!"

My face flushed and I wiped at my eyes as well.

"Yes," was all I said.

I turned and made my way back to the castle, feeling invigorated.

Hagrid, Red, Sirius… They all believed in me.

I stopped to take a breath, staring at my right hand for a few moments. It was as If I was looking at it for the first time. A strange feeling came over me, a sort of painful euphoria; a strange epiphany which seemed banal at first glance, but spoke of depths beneath depths.

A simple complexity.

They all believed in me, and they were right to do it. I was a completely different person than I was the night my name came out of the Goblet of Fire. I was better.

I felt _powerful_.

I stared at my hand for another second, before my face broke out in a wide grin. I clenched it shut, exulting in the sudden pressure against my fingers. I made it to the Great Hall, drawing the gaze of just about everyone in there.

"What is he wearing?"

"Potter looks different."

"Obviously, he's gone Muggle."

"No, it's not that." One student said. "There's a certain look in his eyes. Don't you see it?"

"Didn't expect you to find his eyes so _interesting._ " One quipped.

"Oh, sod this." A groan.

They really had nothing better to do, huh? I rolled my eyes at their obsessive nature— why I ever thought their opinion mattered was beyond me— and took a seat next to Neville, who gave me an odd look.

"What're you wearing, Harry?" Neville squeaked as I piled some eggs and bacon on my plate, digging in with gusto.

I glanced at him before going back to my food and gave him a simple, if vague, reply. "It's just something which has become very precious to me."

He could tell I meant every word, so he changed the subject.

"I'm sorry, Harry." Neville apologized. "About yesterday, I mean. I didn't mean to get angry."

I frowned for a second, before my face relaxed when I realized what he was talking about.

"You don't ever have to apologize for that, Neville." I assured the boy. "If anything, I'm the one who should be sorry. I as good as insulted your parents, mate. I know I'd be bloody furious— turned my cousin's aunt Marge into a balloon just before my third year for calling my mum a bitch."

Neville frowned at the offered story. It was probably not what he expected my life out of school to be like. We were both silent for a few moments.

"Harry!" Hermione's voice pierced through the slightly tense atmosphere.

I felt her arms tightly wind around me, and stopped eating. "Could you let me have my last meal in peace, Hermione?"

She let go. I turned to see her looking white as a sheet.

Her eyes were puffy and red— she'd been crying.

I felt a little bad, but I didn't comment on it. She was the one who abandoned me, not the other way around.

"I'm so sorry, Harry!" She hugged me again, babbling and sniffling in a futile attempt to stop her tears from flowing. We were starting to draw quite a few stares. "I should have helped you get ready for the task!"

I took a breath.

"You should have." I calmly replied, though I could not help the tinge of frost that bled into those three words. She stiffened, as if struck.

"I had that one coming. I'm so sorry, Harry..." She repeated helplessly. "I shouldn't have doubted you! I let everything go wrong, it's my fault."

"How is it _all_ your fault?" I sounded almost amused at her freak out.

"Because you're not talking to me, and neither is Ron, and he's not talking to you either, and…" She trailed off, at a loss for words. "I don't know what to do.."

"You and Ron had a fight?" I asked. I must have been out of the loop. Then again, I'd been training nonstop for the past few weeks to care all that much.

"Yes, he wanted me to send you a note to tell you to head down to Hagrid's." She explained, sniffling. "But we had a fight because he didn't want to do it, himself. I told him I don't want to get between you two, and we started shouting at each other; then, he left."

Ah, so Ron _did_ at least try and warn me about the dragons; it was probably a moot point, since I'd gone straight to Hagrid as soon as I figured out he might have been involved in the task.

Still, that earned him a few points— if he ever pulled his head out his ass and apologized.

"I forgive you, Hermione." I said after a long moment, pulling away from her. "But this is the only chance I will give you. If you try to break my trust, then I will never speak to you again."

Her happy expression gained a hint of trepidation, but she nodded regardless. "I promise, Harry."

I nodded and went back to breakfast, scooting over slightly so there'd be enough room for one more. "Good."

She happily took the offered seat.

"So, do you think you're ready, Harry?" Neville asked, changing the subject.

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be." I said. "I've been training hard in the last few weeks. I'm ready for anything."

"What're you wearing?" Hermione blurted out after a few moments of silence.

I stifled a smirk. I was wondering when she'd crack.

"How long did you hold that question in?" I asked her right back.

She huffed, though red began to flood her cheeks. "You know, it's rude to answer a question with another question, Harry."

"Indeed it is, Hermione." I confirmed, lazily spearing a nearby sausage and taking a large bite. "Indeed it is."

She huffed, but did not press the matter. Likely, she felt uncomfortable doing so, right after we made up.

"I'll explain it to you after the task." I said, before glancing at Neville thoughtfully. "Both of you. Suffice to say, it has to do with why I feel ready for the task."

"You didn't enchant it, did you?" Hermione bit her lip worriedly. "You're only allowed a wand."

"I didn't enchant it, no." I said, rolling my eyes. "It's just a regular jacket and a pair of jeans, Hermione."

"I've never seen you wear anything like it, before." Hermione commented, before shaking her head and giving me an anxious gaze. "I'm so worried about you, Harry. What if you get hurt?"

"Don't be." I said confidently. "I can take whatever this tournament will throw at me; you have no idea how well I've prepared for this whole thing."

Hermione gave me her 'I'm trying to figure you out' gaze, before nodding.

"All right, Harry." Hermione said, beginning to realize our previous friendship dynamic had completely changed. "I will be there cheering for you!"

"Me too, Harry." Neville said, smiling.

"Awesome, that makes three of you." I smiled back. "Yay, me!"

"Who's the third?" Neville asked before Hermione could.

"Hagrid." I revealed. I let that sink in.

"…Aren't the teachers forbidden from helping the students?" Hermione asked with a frown.

Cheating always was one of Hermione's worst enemies.

"Helping me?" I put an exaggerated look of outrage on my face. "I beg your pardon. I have been visiting my very dear friend Hagrid for tea and moral support!"

Neville snorted into his drink.

Hermione had no answer to that one.

I stood up.

"All right." I said, pulling down at my black shirt slightly. "Well, it's been fun, guys. I better meet with the Ministry officials so they can set me up for the task."

"All right, Harry. Good luck!" Neville said. Hermione nodded along with his words.

I turned, ready to go, only to see Malfoy there, giving me his customary smirk.

"Ready to get roasted, Potter?" Malfoy looked almost gleeful, gesturing at the two brutes behind him. "Goyle, here, thinks you might last ten minutes against the dragon. I don't think you'll make it past two."

I felt the typical rush of anger at the casual way he was referring to my possible demise, before I got an idea.

"So sure of your prediction… Let's make a bet, then, Malfoy." I gave him a superior smirk. "I'll give you a thousand galleons if I fail the task."

He grinned ferociously, a glint of greed showing in his eyes. "I'll take that bet, Potter."

"You haven't heard the rest of it." I chided him, as if I was talking to a five year old boy. "Patience, did your father not teach you manners? What, with that cane of his…"

Draco twitched at the mention of the cane. I felt bad for a moment, before shaking the feeling off. The little shit kept picking these fights with me; so, I wasn't going to feel bad about hitting back. Not when he was joking about my possible death.

"If you lose, Malfoy…" I said. "You have to kiss McGonagall on the lips. For five seconds. And you have to use your tongue."

Malfoy went white and wide eyed at my words. The Gryffindors around us gaped— Neville choked on his eggs. Hermione looked scandalized.

I smirked wider.

"What's wrong, _Draco_? _"_ I said in an imitation of his father's voice. "Are you afraid? Where's that Malfoy pride?"

Draco gave me the most furious glare he could muster, turned away, and stomped back to his own table, his two perpetual guards lumbering in his wake.

My smirk widened. I knew he wouldn't take that bet.

"Harry." Neville was still banging at his chest. "That was _brilliant_."

"Thank you, Neville." I gave him and Hermione a nod, before walking away. "Wish me luck."

 **ooooooo**

I was the third one to reach the tent the Ministry had set up near the dragon's nest. I would've been the first one, but Director Crouch tried his best to make me change into "Tournament appropriate robes", rather than the "silly garments" I was wearing.

My reply to him had Bagman stifling a roar of laughter.

The man's face had colored into an interesting shade of red, reminiscent of my uncle in some ways, really, but he had stiffly walked away, not deigning to give me any reply.

Then again, I supposed that telling him I would use his Ministry-distributed robes if he'd got on his knees and polished off my wand was not the smartest thing I could have said.

I shrugged. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

He wasn't a school official, so I didn't have to worry about detentions, and the like. He was just another Ministry stooge. None of those scumbags were likely to get any respect from me.

Anything that happened today, I could probably blame the "stress of having to go through a life threatening experience". Besides, I was famous, wasn't I? Famous people always got away with doing messed up things.

As I entered the tent, I got a baffled glance from Cedric. These clothes really did take everyone's attention, huh? Must be the red in them.

Krum, on the other hand, gave me a single, significant glance, before scowling and staring at one of the tent walls. I shrugged, found a spot for myself, and began to do some calisthenics to get the blood flowing more easily.

"All right, Harry?" Cedric greeted me.

"I'm fine." I stopped my exercise to give him a nod. "About as ready as I'll ever be. You?"

"Same." He said, giving me a confident grin. "Good luck, Harry."

"Keep all that luck for yourself, Diggory." I sniped good-naturedly. "I won't need it."

"Nice bit of bravado there, Harry." Cedric threw in a condescending look. "This isn't like in Quidditch."

"You're right." I said, shuddering slightly. "No dementors."

He shuddered as well. "I still get nightmares about that."

"You and me both, mate." I admitted. "At least they made for effective truancy officers."

"You can say that again." He commiserated, just as Fleur entered the tent, looking around as if bored. She really had that condescending look mastered.

"Resting bitch face", Red had called it once. I couldn't help but agree with his assessment.

The tension rose in the tent as the other Champions began to size each other up. Fleur looked bored. Krum gave his world famous scowl, the one we'd seen in the World Cup. Cedric maintained his confident grin.

I yawned and picked my nose, flicking the booger at Fleur.

Her carefully schooled expression quickly transformed into a cringe as she dodged the offending hardened ball of bacteria filled mucus. She gave me a death glare for the trouble.

I smirked in her face. Cedric looked like he was trying to stifle an incredulous laugh, while Krum's scowl threatened to shift into an amused, if disgusted smile. He schooled it back into the scowl, though it looked to have taken a monumental effort to do so.

"Excellent!" Bagman burst in the tent with two of his assistants as Fleur opened her mouth to berate me, interrupting whatever she was going to say. She settled with sending me murderous looks. "You're all here."

I gave her the most innocent smile I could manage, just to rile her up even further.

She seethed as Crouch finally made his way into the tent, holding a small, wriggling sack in his hand. He handed it to Bagman, giving me a cold glare before making his way back out.

Faintly, I realized Crouch was one of the judges. I gave a mental shrug; I didn't care about winning the tournament. I was more interested in surviving it.

"Gather around, everyone." Ludo said excitedly, causing whatever was in that bag to wiggle around some more. "I will explain the first task to you."

After we made our way to him, he waited a few extra moments in some moronic attempt to build suspense. How thick was this guy? It was obvious that all four us knew that we would be fighting dragons. Considering that all four of us didn't look particularly interested in his big reveal, it should've clued him in.

Oh well.

"Your task today is to retrieve a golden egg." Bagman began to explain. "In the egg, there is a clue which should lead you to your second task."

"I'm sure you're wondering what the catch is." He paused for dramatic effect. "You see, in order to obtain the egg, you must make your way past a dragon."

He paused again to let the severity of his statement sink in.

We made our best attempts to look suitably shocked. If McGonagall were here, she'd see through all four of us. That's how unconvincing we were, at that moment.

Bagman didn't even seem to notice.

"Each of you will have thirty minutes to complete the task." Bagman said, lifting the bag so that our attention was on it, now. "Each of you will be facing one of these dragons. To determine which one you will encounter, you have to reach into this bag and pull out the model of your dragon."

Fleur decided to go first, pulling out a tiny green dragon with the number 2 on a chain wrapped around its neck.

"The Common Welsh Green!" Bagman announced. "You will go second, Ms. Delacour."

He held out the bag at Krum. "If you would, Mr. Krum?"

Krum scowled— I was starting to think that was the only facial expression he was capable of— and pulled out a scarlet dragon with the number 3 on it.

"The Chinese Fireball! You will go third." Bagman said, holding his bag out to me. "Mr. Potter?"

I gingerly reached in and pulled out my dragon. It was covered in black scales and possessed a powerful body, dwarfing that of the two models before it. On the chain around its neck, there was the number 4. I gulped slightly, feeling apprehensive for a moment.

"The Hungarian Horntail! You will go last, Mr. Potter." Bagman declared, before turning to Cedric with his bag. "Which leaves Mr. Diggory the Swedish Short-Snout!"

Cedric pulled out a silvery-blue dragon, staring at it with some trepidation.

"You will have twenty minutes to prepare yourself, Mr. Diggory." Bagman announced, patting the boy on the back. "Good luck, to all of you!"

He swept out of the room, the two assistants following him closely, leaving us four alone in the tent.

"Twenty minutes to prepare the dragon for Diggory…" I muttered to myself. "Thirty for him to get the egg. Twenty to prepare the next one, thirty for the task, and so on… I might have to stay in this damn tent for about… 170 minutes, so I might have to wait in this place for three hours."

I clapped my hands, startling the others, before grabbing my wand and conjuring myself a mat, lying down on it like I didn't have a single care in the world.

Fleur scoffed, drawing my attention. She gave me the coldest glare she could manage. I replied by pretending to pick my nose and flicking imaginary boogers at her. Her glare turned even colder.

I knew it was childish of me, but she just kept getting more and more riled up the more I kept going. It was like she'd never been teased by another man, before. Then again, knowing that she was a Veela, she likely never was.

I remembered when Red had given her a scan during the first few days of my training. He called her a strange oddity, since she read as a Human/Pokémon hybrid. Red had continued on to say that his readings were reminiscent of other fire types.

It made sense. I vividly recalled the Veela during the World Cup. They had transformed into humanoid bird monsters capable of throwing fireballs around. That she had an affinity to fire magic was a given, at that point.

When I focused back to the present, I saw her giving me a superior grin. Had she said something? Oh, she thought I fell under her allure, didn't she?

Well, time to dash her hopes.

"I'm sorry?" I smiled innocently. "I wasn't paying attention. I got so bored my mind started to wander, I thought, maybe I could find some topic of conversation less boring than whatever you were saying. I realized that was the wrong question to ask, since my choices would be unlimited."

Her smug look turned into one of loathing, before she visibly composed herself and stomped over to the other side of the tent, no longer even looking in my direction.

"Well, that was easy." I murmured to myself and lay back on the mat, taking a deep breath and trying to relax.

"We're ready for you, Mr. Diggory." One of Bagman's assistants poked his head through the entrance to the tent, beckoning the Hogwarts Champion over.

"Good luck, Cedric." I called out, not even looking in his direction.

"Thanks, Harry." And, with that, he was off.

I tuned out the announcer's— Ludo's— voice, as well as the cheers of the crowd, and instead focused on my plan of attack. I went over it a few times, adjusting it to fit the situation.

I had to steal an egg from a Hungarian Horntail. Likely, the egg would be placed among other, natural eggs. That meant that the dragon would be especially aggressive. Nesting mothers were always that way.

I remembered some of Mrs. Figg's cats were absolutely horrifying to deal with when approaching their young.

Hm.

I considered the issue for a few minutes, before nodding to myself. I knew exactly what I needed to do.

All that was left was to wait out the rest of the Champions' turns.

"How long does Cedric have left?" I asked aloud, hoping one of the two remaining Champions would answer.

"Fifteen minutes." Krum said curtly, giving me an odd look. "You are not paying attention, Potter?"

"Didn't see the need." I replied. "All we hear is Bagman's moronic announcing. He was just as bad during the World Cup, as I'm sure you remember, Krum."

Krum grimaced. "All too vell."

We descended back into silence for a few minutes, until the crowd let out a monstrous cheer. Moments later, Cedric came back in, holding an egg and looking proud and happy he was able to manage getting it.

"Well done, Cedric." I smiled, giving him a wave.

He gave me a tight nod, before losing his happy expression and sagging in exhaustion. Covered in dirt and soot, half of his robe looked like it was burned right off, and the way he seemed to be favoring his right leg showed that he'd sustained damage to his left one.

A nasty bruise was forming on his forehead.

I would not want to be him tomorrow.

I wondered how bad my own injuries would be. If my luck held out, perhaps I would need to regrow my bones again. Only time would tell.

"Ready, Ms. Delacour?" The same assistant popped in.

Her snooty expression turned slightly fearful, but she nodded as confidently as she could manage, before walking out of the tent. The cheering for her was stronger than Cedric's; likely, that was her Veela allure at work.

Ludo's frantic voice began to die down as I heard Fleur's song covered the entire zone of the first task, making me slowly close my eyelids…

Realizing what was going on, I slapped myself in the face, the sudden motion and flare of pain bringing me back to the land of the waking. A quick glance in Krum's direction had showed he did the same thing. He seemed angry and embarrassed he had been caught off guard, but quickly schooled his expression when he noticed my eyes on him.

He was a bit touchy about appearances, wasn't he? Obsessed with looking strong?

I rolled my eyes, but didn't comment on it.

A minute later, an embarrassed looking Fleur came back inside, holding her egg close to her chest. As she passed me by, I saw that her clothes were fairly singed, with a few burns visible underneath. I gave her a sympathetic wince as she joined with Diggory to be looked over by Madame Pomfrey.

Krum got up, and began to stretch in preparation for his task. I faintly wondered how long it would take him to get the egg.

Fleur had taken around seventeen minutes to get hers, while Cedric had taken twenty. I wouldn't be surprised if Krum managed to do it in fifteen.

The assistant popped his head in, but didn't say a word as Krum forestalled him with a raised hand. He calmly exited the tent, and the crowd exploded in cheers, dwarfing those for Fleur and Cedric combined.

I supposed being an international Quidditch star had its ups.

I closed my eyes. I might as well take a nap. Fleur's song had done a number on me.

"Mr. Potter, we're ready for you." I felt someone nudging me.

"Huh?" I said intelligently, wiping at my eyes. "Krum's already done? Hasn't even been a minute, has it?"

"It's been sixteen minutes, Mr. Potter." The assistant looked amused. "Too boring for you, was it?"

I shook my head and got up, making sure to stretch and get limber.

"Man, I've been lying on this mat for around an hour." I said and vanished the aforementioned mat with a silent wave of my wand. "I'd like to see you fully cognizant while on it, listening to Fleur's lullaby."

"…Right." He said, gesturing me to move to the exit.

I obeyed, but was stopped by another assistant.

"I'm sorry Mr. Potter, this might take a bit longer than expected." He apologized. "Your dragon is putting up quite the struggle."

I should have just kept lying down. I stifled a disappointed sigh.

"That's fine." I crossed my arms and waited.

Ten minutes later, the assistant popped his head in.

"We good?" I asked unnecessarily.

"Yes, Mr. Potter. Whenever you're ready."

I gave a nod and stepped through the exit. The crowd cheered as Bagman announced my entry into the task's zone, though I could hear a few 'boo's, as well as jeers, here and there.

I rolled my eyes and paid it no mind, stepping further in the enclosure. My grogginess was washed away completely as adrenaline began to course through my veins, readying me for the life and death struggle I was about to commence.

I looked around.

No sign of the dragon, yet.

I passed one of the rock outcroppings before finally seeing the Hungarian Horntail in its full glory. Scales as black as night, with a piercing, yellow glare, the Horntail cut for an imposing figure.

And, it was huge; larger than even Fluffy was, and that mutt was huge. The Horntail could probably fit two of me in its mouth, alone; easily, at that.

Our eyes locked for a second, before it snarled and yowled, sending pillars of flame skyward in a show of power.

But that brought notice to the shackle around its neck, as well as the gleaming golden egg sitting among a few cement colored ones underneath it. I locked onto my target, going over possible scenarios to fight against it.

"I can do this." I murmured to myself, feeling both trepidation and excitement.

This was the culmination of all the hard work I put forth the last three weeks. I waited for the cannon fire to signal my starting time, before going straight to work.

" _Accio!"_ I directed my will into the charm, summoning the backpack I had Hagrid place nearby. I waited for a bit, studying the dragon as I moved slightly to the right, its eyes following me every step of the way.

The crowd shouted, pointing at the backpack flying over them and into my waiting hands.

I smiled and unzipped the pack, pulling out my needed tools and wearing it back on. I clipped my belt on, and then pointed the Pokédex at the dragon. It beeped for a few seconds, scanning the creature with its green ray. The Horntail seemed to take offense at this, and spewed flame in my direction.

I heard the crowd gasp as I dove behind a nearby rock, easily avoiding the dragon flame. From this distance, the only way its flames could reach me was if I didn't move.

"Dragon type." Red seemed intrigued. "Incredibly large, though it would make sense, most of your modern day Pokémon have given up their Aura power in order to attain mega-fauna status. This means that, if my suspicions are correct. it is not capable of utilizing Dragon-type moves; its breath did not possess any of the traits found in true dragons, reading almost exactly like Charmander's own flames. Preliminary scans on its musculature and various naturally evolved weapons indicate a high physical attack potential, though slow on the ground judging by its overall build. Diversionary tactics are ideal, as its flight capability has forcefully been limited."

I nodded at the experienced Trainer's analysis, pressing the buttons on my Pokéballs and releasing my companions with three flashes of light.

The three looked around, eyes finally settling on the humongous creature before them, before looking at me as if to say "are you fucking crazy?"

"I know." I agreed, but stared ahead of them resolutely. "That's what we've been preparing for this whole time. That's what all the hard training was about, guys. Are you with me?"

No hesitation; they nodded.

I smiled at them, noting that Bagman's commentary was about my prodigious skills in post-NEWT level conjuration. I supposed it did look like I conjured my Pokémon, huh?

"Okay." I said, pocketing the Pokédex and clapping to gain their attention. "Charmander, you're to go to the left side. Keep throwing Embers at its eyes. It won't hurt it much, but it should probably annoy it. Squirtle, you're going to be doing the same from the right, but you'll be hitting its hind legs. I'll be attacking its wings, and helping you out as best as I can. You watch my back, also. Got it?"

Charmander nodded, and Squirtle gave a salute.

"One last thing; its fire is really strong, guys. Dodge it at all costs— even you, Charmander, though I think maybe your tail would be safe. Don't let it hit your main body, though."

They nodded, before springing into action, rushing to flank the dragon.

I turned to Bulbasaur. "Your job's the most important one, Bulbasaur. You have to get set up a bit closer, and when you see a chance, use your Vine Whip to grab the egg. All right? Don't let it see you."

Bulbasaur cried in assent before stepping behind a rock, watching the Horntail carefully as Charmander began to pelt it with medium sized balls of fire, causing parts of the crowd to laugh as they smacked harmlessly into its hide.

Sure seemed to get its attention, though. With a roar, it sent a long stream of flame towards Charmander, who easily dodged it, showing the fruit of our training.

Charmander stopped, and decided to put his tail flame in the dragon's fire for a few seconds, before leaping and flinging _a fireball the size of Hagrid_ right in its face.

The ensuing explosion had me covering my face, the strong winds sending debris flying every which way. Then, the crowd cheered.

"Merlin's beard." I heard half of them shout in appreciation.

I supposed they liked a good show. I gave Bulbasaur one last nod, before striding forward to the dragon, my wand drawn and pointed right at the cloud of smoke, not even waiting for it to clear as I sent a spell to where I thought its wings were.

" _Diffindo!_ " I sent the cutting curse into the slowly clearing smoke, causing the Horntail to roar in pain. The crowd went silent as the smoke finally cleared, showing the dragon looking straight at me, enraged. My spell had torn into one of its wings. It wasn't strong enough to go right through, but it certainly looked like it hurt, judging from the slowly leaking blood running down its wing.

It roared, coiling its legs— oh shit, it was going to lunge. Just before it leapt, a strong, pressurized stream of water cut into its hind leg, distracting it enough to fall short of my body by fifteen feet.

Instead, I found myself face to face with the Horntail. It snarled and opened its mouth, the back of its throat glowing red with heat.

People in the crowd were screaming for me to move.

Without thinking, I pointed my wand and cast " _Aguamenti!_ " sending the strongest stream of water I could manage into its mouth. A veritable torrent rushed down its throat, cutting its roar short.

I didn't let up, shooting as much as I could before diving backwards, narrowly missing a swipe of its claws which made the air vibrate with the force of its move.

I ran for it.

As I began to gain some distance, I heard the sound of heaving, and a large splash of water behind me. I howled in unhinged laughter as I realized I had just given the dragon a coughing fit.

Seconds later, it snarled in my direction, planning another attempt to roast me alive.

I turned to see its mouth open long enough for a black ball to smack right in its face, exploding and covering its head in roiling black smoke.

"Smokescreen from Charmander." Red supplied tonelessly. I nodded, thankful for Red's calm demeanor, and turned to Bulbasaur, whose extended vine had already wrapped around the egg, pulling it towards us, causing the crowd to roar with approval.

I aimed my Pokéballs at Charmander and Squirtle; they were still in the dragon's danger zone, and it would take them too long to run back.

"Good job, Bulby! Return, Charmander, Squirtle!"

I gave a grin as I quickly returned Charmander and Squirtle to their Pokéballs and ran for the tent, Bulbasaur right behind me, the egg tightly held in her vines.

"I'm so proud of you guys." I said, caressing the two Pokéballs as we came back into the tent. I turned to Bulbasaur, who quickly handed me egg and retracted her vines.

"You, too. Bulby! Great job." I smiled and gave Bulbasaur a good rub on the head; she gave a happy cry and rubbed up against my leg. I guess she liked her new nickname.

I took two steps in the tent, before realizing that I hadn't actually seen what score the judges had given me, and then stepped out once more. The dragon had rushed back to her eggs as her handlers began to surround her.

I breathed a sigh of relief, before turning to where the judges stood above the rest in their special box. Bagman and Crouch already had their wands out, displaying a 10 and an 8 respectively. Odd, I was expecting the old timer to give me a five, or something.

Well, he was a consummate professional, if nothing else. He still wasn't going to get an apology, though I would probably be a bit more polite, next time.

Madame Maxime shot her wand out in the air, displaying a 9, while Dumbledore gave me a.. 10? Wow, I must've really impressed him. Karkaroff got some boos as he threw out a 7.

Prick.

The crowd cheered my name as I made my way back in the tent, only to come face to face with one of the few things more frightening than a dragon.

"I did not give you permission to leave my medical tent, Mr. Potter." Madame Pomfrey stared me down, looking quite put upon.

"I'm fine." I opened my arms wide, as if to show her. "The dragon didn't even touch me, I swear."

"I'll be the judge of that, Mr. Potter." She said. "I recall, you said you were 'fine' when the bones in your arm were vanished."

"Well, I wasn't in pain—"

"And the time you spent at the end of your Second Year…"

"That was the end of the year climax where I almost die, though. Those don't count." I said, frowning.

"Only you could discount a life threatening experience so brazenly, Mr. Potter." Pomfrey turned and pointed at a nearby bed. "Sit."

I sighed, and obeyed.

She ran her wand over me as Bulbasaur hopped on the bed, staring at the mediwitch curiously.

"A few scrapes and bruises, but for once, you are somewhat correct, Mr. Potter." Pomfrey seemed amazed.

"So, am I free to go?" I said, returning Bulbasaur into her Pokéball. Madame Pomfrey stared as Bulbasaur was sucked into the ball, before shaking her head and addressing me; her duty won out against her curiosity, it seemed.

"No." She said, hesitant to let me go so easily. She handed be a disgusting brown potion. "Not until you take this."

I gave her a mutinous look, before giving up and drinking the foul potion in a single gulp, wincing at the aftertaste it left in my mouth.

"Can I go _now?_ " I asked, sounding anxious.

She gave me one last scrutinizing look, before giving a curt nod.

"Off with you then." She dismissed me, though there was no bite in her tone, judging by the exasperated smile on her face.

I gave a nod, and exited the tent, holding the egg tight against me. Didn't have to tell me twice!

Bagman and his two assistants were waiting outside, as well as the rest of the champions.

"Mr. Potter! That makes four. Excellent!" Bagman said excitedly. "Well done, Champions, for successfully acquiring your egg from the dragons."

All four of us straightened up with pride.

"As you know, we scored you using specific criteria." Bagman explained. "How long it took you to get your egg, how much damage you sustained and the effectiveness of your spells."

We nodded.

"In case you were unable to see your scores, Mr. Potter has the lead, with forty six points. Mr. Krum is second, with forty four points. Ms. Delacour and Mr. Diggory are tied with forty two points!" Bagman declared happily. The other three Champions gave me strange glances.

It wasn't every day a fourteen year old beat three seventeen year olds in a competition, after all. That would teach them to underestimate me.

"Your next task will require you to solve the clue within the egg." Bagman continued excitedly. "Your second task will take place on the 24th of February. Good luck!"

And, with that, they walked away, leaving the four of us alone.

A few seconds passed, before Krum extended his hand to me.

"Vell done, Potter. I did not expect you to succeed." Krum said.

I took his hand, grasping it firmly for a few seconds. "I don't think anyone did. But I trained hard for this."

"It shows." Cedric blurted out, clapping me on the shoulder. "It certainly caught me by surprise, Harry."

Fleur said nothing, still giving me an icy glare, before walking away to her Headmistress. I supposed I pushed a few too many of her buttons.

Still worth it, I thought as I watched her from behind for a few more seconds.

"I must go. Good luck on the second task, Potter, Diggory." Krum gave the two of us nods, before heading towards his own Headmaster, leaving me and Cedric alone.

"I feel like I could sleep for a week." Cedric admitted on the way back to the castle. He shuddered in sudden realization. "They'll be having a party at the Hufflepuff Common Room, won't they? Probably in Gryffindor, as well."

"Probably." I shrugged, before breaking off from the path. "I'm not going back to Gryffindor Tower, right now. Hagrid promised we'd celebrate. It should be a quiet thing. Want to come?"

"Perhaps some other time, Harry. I think I'd prefer a nap." He said, and we broke apart.

Once alone, I began to speak.

"We did it." I said.

"Flawlessly." Was Red's only answer. "The preparation in the Forest was worth it. You were able to subdue an adult Dragon-type using juvenile Pokémon, which is beyond the capabilities of any trainer I'd ever heard of."

"Even you?" I quipped in amusement.

A scoff.

"I'm the Champion." He said, as if it explained everything.

I rolled my eyes as I finally reached Hagrid's home, where he and Hermione were waiting for us with a veritable feast laid out on a table, with a large pile of berries and assorted foods left for my partners.

I smiled and released my Pokémon, moving to speak with my two friends.

"Well done, Harry!" Hagrid boomed, giving me a slap on the back which almost knocked me over, before kneeling towards the three Pokémon. "And, you too, little ones. Didn' think yeh'd be able to put down a dragon, but yeh did!"

Charmander gave an indignant and challenging cry which was supposed to put fear into Hagrid's heart. Instead, he grinned and gave Charmander a pat on the head, before directing my partners to their food.

"Thank you, Hagrid." I smiled at the giant, before turning my gaze to Hermione.

Hermione stared at my Pokémon, and then back at me. She looked like she wanted to say something, but held herself back, probably not wanting to upset me. The fact that she hadn't thrown herself at me in a hug was telling enough.

A moment later, she lowered her head, eyes downcast. Maybe seeing me fight the dragon had hammered it home to her.

Well, shit. I moved to her and wrapped my arms around her. She stiffened in shock.

I had never initiated hugs before, had I?

"I'm still here." I frowned and gave her a few pats on the back. "I'm here. I forgive you."

Hermione cried and tightly hugged me back, babbling and sobbing incoherently. I swallowed the sudden lump in my throat and finally released my own tears, hugging her tighter.

"I missed you." I admitted.

"Me too."

Hermione and I suddenly jumped, feeling something over our backs. We turned to see Bulbasaur, her vines extended to comfort us. Squirtle and Charmander stood next to Bulbasaur, looking concerned.

I wiped at my face and pulled Hermione over.

"Hermione, I'd like you to meet my friends…" I smiled.

 **ooooooo**

Let me know what you thought! I'm going to sleep, now.


	6. Realizations and Meetings

**ooooooo**  
 **Elemental Trinity  
A Harry Potter/Pokémon Crossover  
By Zero Rewind  
ooooooo**

 **Nov. 29 1994**

I was down in the secret study of the Chamber of Secrets again, continuing to read Salazar's book. He'd apparently modified the 'useless' shield charm— his own words— into something more compact, and therefore stronger.

I hadn't gotten around to practicing it, yet, but I could already tell that such a spell would prove to be invaluable. That it covers a much smaller area was a moot point, considering my quick reflexes.

I was beginning to think of it as a sort of parry. Of course, I could always dodge the spell; but that would leave me in a vulnerable position, especially in a two on one scenario or more. The second guy would only have to aim at me as I jump or roll out of the way of the first spell.

Easy pickings, in other words.

If I was going to have any chance of surviving the tournament, I would have to up my magical training.

I had focused a significant amount of my attention on training my Pokémon, often discarding my own potential.

And besides, I had promised them a full week's break. The past month has been a harrowing experience. I had willingly placed myself in mortal danger in order to acquire battle experience.

It bore ample fruit, yes, but that sort of training takes a toll on one's mind and soul; and, Pokémon weren't any different, in that regard.

The past few days had been interesting, to say the least. Ron had tried to apologize, but I could tell it was forced and insincere at best. It was a skill I'd picked up over the past month, and I blamed it all on Red.

He was overly analytical, capable of taking apart the words of anyone and everyone— a skill he'd picked up from his years of silence, while starting out— and tried to impart these same lessons onto me.

Silence, I learned, was more useful than I had considered, before. When I was younger, silence was a sort of half-blessing, half-curse. I wasn't saying that It wasn't _useful_ to me, back then.

At nights, when I was sad beyond anything, sitting in my cupboard, the silence was there to overtake it. It dulled the pain.

My worst moments, wanting things to end, believing my parents had truly abandoned me; I shunted all of that into the silence. Tears rarely came to me; I had suppressed those, as well.

I weathered it all in silence. Hagrid breaking down that door truly had changed things for me. Hope had rekindled in my heart and I had almost completely forgotten about the quiet strength lurking within.

No, that's wrong. I knew it was there. I had rejected it outright.

Silence was what I had turned to when acceptance was denied me. When I received acceptance, I rejected it, instead. Friends don't become friends with someone who's quiet and withdrawn, after all. It made perfect sense, then; the sort of perfect logic that only a foolish child could have.

Red had quietly shattered that particular worldview. He rarely made small talk. Most of our conversations were centered on training my three companions, battle strategies, and the occasional request to have a little jaunt in the Forbidden Forest to gain experience as well as insight on the various creatures within.

Apparently, he had reprogrammed the Pokédex to include a new section, which he called PI, with a few pages already filled out. When asked, he had said it was the Post-apocalyptic Index.

It felt odd thinking of my own society in such terms. Whenever they'd spoken of or shown post-apocalyptic worlds in the movies Dudley tried to sneak by, it was always with society completely collapsing in on itself; people foraging in the streets or abandoned buildings in a futile attempt to stay alive in a world with no hope.

I supposed life wasn't always like in the stories. Humanity could bounce back from just about anything, I thought.

I had already filled a few pages of the Pokédex. Acromantulas were on there, of course; after weeks of fighting them, how could they not be? Another entry had been the ghosts inhabiting the castle. Red had gotten interesting readings off of them; they possessed Ghost type energy, but were incapable, or possibly ignorant, of how to use it.

When Red had asked if he could try to teach one a Ghost type move, I had immediately rejected the idea and nipped it in the bud before he could make an attempt to sway me. I didn't need ghosts running amok, after all.

Or worse; Peeves.

The blighter was already enough of a menace.

The basilisk was also an interesting addition. I wasn't sure how, but Red was able to determine that it was a genderless creature, though with only one to study, he couldn't make any definitive statements on the breed as a whole— then again, having a toad sit on a chicken's egg to hatch it is confusing enough, as it was.

He'd made some odd joke after scanning the nearby rats. Something about them probably being in the "top percentage of rats", he'd said one of his friends had told it to him, and it just stuck with him for a good long while.

"I was thinking…" Red interrupted my reading.

"Yes?" I replied.

"You could possibly create your own Pokéballs." Red said thoughtfully. "You would need apricorns, if they still exist."

That was interesting.

"Do you know the process?" I was pretty curious.

"Before I became a consciousness in a machine? No." Red supplied. "Now that I have access to this information, I suppose we should use it. It will take some Aura manipulation, and you'll have to draw symbols."

"So, it's like Ancient Runes?" I frowned. "I don't really know anything about runes, Red."

"It's similar." Red said. "It's a different language, of course. It was ancient, by our standards. I knew a guy in Johto who made them. It seemed to take him a whole day to make it from scratch, so it shouldn't be too hard. You'll just have to write the symbols well enough, and infuse it with Aura."

"Provided we find these apricorns of yours, of course," I interjected.

"Yes."

I took a breath, placed the book on the table, and flipped open the Pokédex. "Show me what an apricorn looks like."

Red obeyed, displaying different colored fruit. It sort of looked like a mix of an apricot, and an acorn— apricorn, makes sense.

"I'm going to make a wild guess and say it's done by crossing an apricot and acorn?" I said wryly.

"Indeed, though I'm not aware of the exact process. You'd need to consult whatever botanical database you have. Sorry." Red apologized.

"It's all right." I wave off his apology. "I'm not particularly sure what I'd be trying to catch with these new Pokéballs, but it might be something to explore."

A second passed. "I could ask Neville, actually. He's probably beyond NEWT level at Herbology, I reckon. He'd know."

"Good idea." Red said, the screen shifting to display him giving a nod. "When do you plan on opening the egg?"

I glanced to the side, where the golden egg I'd retrieved sat innocently. With a sigh, I went to grab it. I looked at it for a second, before twisting the starfish and opening it.

I regretted it instantly.

"HOLY SHIT!" I yelled, but the sound barely overpowered the obnoxious shrieking coming from the egg. Hurriedly, I closed it back up, taking a deep breath.

"Open it back up, Harry!" Red ordered.

"What the fuck for!?" I shouted, my ears still ringing.

"I could understand it." Red said. "It is a Pokémon language. Any, and all Water type Pokémon are able to at least understand, if not outright speak it."

"Are you saying Squirtle can speak like this?" I balked.

"Possibly, if he learned before being captured." Red said. "Though the Squirtle line is of the Water type, they generally stay in forests with rivers and lakes, rather than the open sea. It's possible some might not have learned it. It's a moot point, of course."

I rubbed at my temples, and conjured up a pair of earmuffs. A few seconds later, "ready, then?"

"Do it." Red said.

I opened the egg. The next minute or so, I couldn't really tell, was filled with the most ear-shattering shrieks I could bear to deal with.

"You can close it, now." Red said; I instantly obeyed, groaning in both relief and slight pain.

"The egg says—" Red started, but I interrupted him.

"No, give me a minute." I said, pulling the ear muffs out and rubbing at the sides of my head. "My ears are killing me."

"Very well."

The next minute was spent rubbing at various points on my head, pulling at my ears, sticking fingers inside, and taking deep breaths to try and relax.

It did little good.

"All right." I said, realizing only time would lessen the pain. "Let's hear it."

"Come seek us where our voices sound,  
We cannot sing above the ground,  
And while you're searching ponder this;  
We've taken what you'll sorely miss,  
An hour long you'll have to look,  
And to recover what we took,  
But past an hour, the prospect's black,  
Too late, it's gone, it won't come back." Red recited.

My mouth thinned as I pondered the implications. Someone was going to _take_ something from me?

"Could you repeat it for me?" I requested.

"Sure." And he did so.

"What I'll sorely miss…" I considered. "What could I possibly miss?"

"Perhaps an item of value to you?" Red suggested. "Your cloak, maybe."

"It's not like anyone knows I have one of those." I countered. "Especially not Ministry stooges."

"It might be your Pokémon." Red said.

"Over my dead body." I snarled, tensing at the very thought.

"Calm down." Red said sternly. "We're just trying to figure out what they'll actually do."

I opened my mouth to lash out, before closing it and nodding. He was right, of course.

I needed to think.

Think.

"What could they possibly take?" I asked no one in particular, trying to bounce ideas off the wall. "This is the Ministry we're talking about. They had no trouble putting us up against nesting dragons, so they essentially have no concern for the wellbeing of the humans participating."

"True." Red said, before expanding on the idea. "It's a spectator sport. If they wish to generate revenue, they want their viewer base to really get into it."

I frowned. He was onto something, but I couldn't put my mind around it, yet. "They put _us_ in mortal danger in the First Task. The second task is item recovery— probably in the Great Lake?"

"To pit you against water types." Red said. "You have an hour to retrieve your item, whatever it could—"

"That's another thing." I interrupted hastily. "How will I breathe underwater, for an hour?"

"That is indeed a problem." Red said, sighing. "It sounds like some research will need to be done, on that matter. For now, we'll focus on what item will need to be retrieved."

"You're right." I nodded. "One step at a time. Well, they'll certainly put us in danger, we know that much."

"The trick to gaining a large viewer base is by raising the stakes." Red imparted.

I frowned. "Higher stakes, higher viewers; but, what could top putting us into mortal dang—" I stopped, the answer finally coming to me.

"Fuck." I said in realization. "They're going to take _hostages?"_

"… I didn't think of that." Red said, sounding abashed and slightly embarrassed. "I was considering that the dangers would be magnified in some way. Hostages… Yes, that might be easier."

" _Easier?_ " I repeated incredulously.

"On the preparation, I mean." Red had his hands raised in an attempt to calm me. It did. "It would be easier to put people, instead of more monsters to deal with. I can see it now, 'Champions will have to save the hostages at the bottom of the lake, and they have one hour, or bad things will happen to the hostage'."

"Do you think they'd let it get that far?" I asked, pulling at my hair. "I mean, that's barmy— even for the Ministry, that's barmy."

"Never underestimate the stupidity of the bureaucracy." Red nodded twice, eyes closed. "Give them a perfect, foolproof plan, and they'll be sure to screw it up."

A few seconds of silence passed.

"So… Hostages," I said, sagging back into my chair. "Underwater, looks like I'll be focusing a lot more on Squirtle. I wouldn't dare use Charmander, in there. Bulby, either."

"Squirtle can't use Dive, either." Red said, and continued seeing my quizzical expression. "It's pretty much self-explanatory, isn't it?"

I smiled sheepishly. "True."

"Looks like some research is in order." I said. "I'll start it next week. On break, remember?"

Red rolled his eyes. "As long as you don't forget to do it."

"Oh, come on." I said. "We have until February, it should be ample time."

"We can only thank the higher powers for such an extended preparation time." Red said. "In fact, we'll be able to evolve all three of your partners in a few weeks, after your break of course."

"Yeah?" I perked up. "Ivysaur, Charmeleon and.. Warturtle, right?"

"Wartortle," Red corrected me, grinning. "I made that same mistake when I was starting out."

"On that note, I almost forgot." Red said. "I need to scan you."

"What for?" I asked.

"Well, since you're a fully-fledged Trainer, now," Red started. "I wanted to update the Trainer Card to display you, instead of myself."

I paused.

"Are you sure about that?" I eyed the opened black box in the corner. "It's _your_ identity, Red. I can't just…"

"My identity is well preserved in the Pokédex." Red assured me. "And, besides, I've had my time. I rose up to the top of the League, and then kept going further and further. I think—" He hesitated, his image looking choked up. "It's time to give the mantle to someone new. My people are all gone. What remains of us will live on through you and your descendants, Harry."

I said nothing, feeling shocked and flattered.

"You always do this." I swallowed, huffing in annoyance and a strange happiness. "One second, we're talking about Pokémon and evolution, and then you go all somber, serious and sentimental."

"…Green used to say something like that, too." Red smiled wanly. "I can't believe I'm saying it, but I miss that annoying jerk. He was always competing with me, always there to challenge me. Now, he's gone. They're all gone."

I didn't know what to say to that. Silence reigned for a bit, before I changed the subject.

"The ID?" I asked softly, holding the Pokédex up.

"Of course." Red said, the green light moving over my body a few times, before turning off. I made to flip the Pokédex, before Red interrupted me.

"Wait, let me do it again." He said.

"Why?" I said reflexively, frowning. "You just did."

"True, but I detected something odd." Red replied.

"What do you mean?"

"Over the last few weeks, I have been scanning all of the other human occupants of Hogwarts Castle, in order to obtain a large sample to work with, in my research concerning their Aura manipulation." Red explained. "You're scanning different from them, Harry. I don't understand."

Great, another thing to make me different.

"And I'm going to assume you found something different about me?" I said unnecessarily. "What is it, _this time_? Am I going to grow wings?"

"I don't think so, but I do detect a difference." Red confirmed. "I'd like to know what it is. There is a strange energy latched onto yours, though I couldn't quite determine its nature."

An energy on me?

That didn't sound ominous at all.

Stifling a sigh, I held the Pokédex in front of me, blinking spots out of my eyes after the green ray passed over my body once, twice, three times.

The machine whirred as the data was analyzed.

"Well?" I asked. "What have you got?"

"…" Red was quiet for a moment. "What is this?"

He sounded stumped, and just a little alarmed. Perhaps it was just my imagination?

"Red?" I got his attention, tongue running over dry lips.

"It reads like a human signature superimposed on top of your own." Red said.

I faintly remembered the Headmaster saying something about that at the end of my first year. An idea came to me.

"Maybe it's my mum?" I theorized, sounding hopeful. "The Headmaster told me that I have a protection imbued in my skin and blood, which lets me burn Voldemort through touch."

A pause.

"No." Red denied, the display showing him shaking his head. "Though that explains why there's a modified Fire type energy suffused into your skin— that was another thing I detected with the deep scan. These wizards... Their research into the depths of Aura manipulation is nothing short of amazing. I might even have to restructure how the move types work."

That particular topic was actually quite fascinating. He'd apparently classified Transfiguration as a part of the Psychic type move-set, since atoms were being manipulated using energy. He had gone on to speak of a Pokémon called Mewtwo, who was able to create a fully-fledged fortress filled with advanced technology using only his telekinesis.

"The energy I detected is flowing outwards from the scar on your forehead." Red's words brought me back from my musings. "As far as my readings can tell, that's what the center is. I can't figure out what energy type is causing this. The closest thing I can manage is a sentient mix of all existing types, seemingly switching between each one randomly, and sometimes creating fusions of two, or several different types. I can barely understand it, and I've only scratched the surface."

My fingers pressed against my forehead, considering the older man's words with a calculating frown.

Another memory of a conversation with Dumbledore arose.

" _Unless I'm much mistaken, he transferred some of his own powers to you the night he gave you that scar. Not something he intended to do, I'm sure…"_ He had said so long ago.

The green beam focused into a lightning bolt shape, superimposing itself directly against my scar for a long while. I counted forty seconds before Red disengaged.

"It reads as a sentient human mind outside of your own." Red added, sounding disturbed. "Harry."

I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

I felt sick to my stomach. I'd been possessed since that fateful day my parents died. Dumbledore knew _something_.

"I…" I trailed off, hesitant. "I'm not sure, Red. I have to talk to Dumbledore. He might know what this is. He hinted as much almost two years ago."

I paused for a moment, anger rising. "In fact, I think he knows exactly what it is, but probably kept it from me."

How could he do that? Why wouldn't he tell me? Did he not trust me?

"Understandable." Red said calmly.

" _What?_ " I asked, shocked and feeling more than a little betrayed.

"It's not exactly news that you drop on a twelve year old, Harry." Red said gently. "Even in my own days, there were things that we were exposed to, but weren't ready for. Many of us wished we could have waited a few years before starting our journeys. The things you see, out there… They're not meant for children. Children are supposed to study, have fun, and occasionally get into trouble."

He was right, of course.

"Of course, being angry is also understandable." Red told me. "The Headmaster's reticence might prove to be your undoing, for all we know. Some information has to be shared, even if the thought of it is inconceivable."

I swallowed down the bile. Suddenly, I felt listless.

It was as if my mood took a nosedive into the chilly waters of the Black Lake.

"We'll figure this out, Harry." Red said. "This will take priority over everything else— in fact, let's confront the Headmaster, right this moment."

"Why?" I snarled suddenly. "So he can tell me to calm down and not ask questions I'm not ready for, again?"

"…Perhaps some independent study, beforehand," Red supplied. "In fact, do something for me?"

"What?"

"Hold me up in front of the bookcase." Red requested. I took a deep breath, and did so.

The scanning light went over the ancient books, once, twice, and again. Minutes passed, with no sign of Red stopping. He'd scanned the entire case, before moving to scan each shelf separately, before the light finally retreated into the Pokédex.

"Grab the middle book on the middle shelf." Red instructed.

I did so.

"Magic most powerful." I read. "By Herpo."

"Herpo," I repeated the name. "It sounds oddly familiar to me."

"It should." Red said. "He created the method with which to hatch Basilisks."

Herpo the Foul, that's right.

Of _course_ Salazar had access to _that_ man's work. How else would he have hatched his own Basilisk?

"How does that help me with.. the current issue?" I asked, feeling impatience and irritation.

"Page 43," Red said. "Under Horcrux."

Odd word, I thought as I flipped through the pages, reaching the forty-third page in the book.

"Horcrux," I repeated. "My finest creation; they reviled me, mocked me for creating the wondrous Basilisk. All they care about is food for their bellies and gold for their coffers, but I have no need for such trivialities. My vision has aided me in attaining a measure of immortality; every man's dream."

A sick feeling started to form in my stomach.

"Through the process of trial and error, I succeeded in creating a Horcrux." I kept reading. "Many were sacrificed for this endeavor. Rituals were enacted, with no success. The test subjects disposed of—" he was talking about _humans_ , wasn't he? "— and new ones acquired."

I felt more and more nauseous as I kept reading through the book. Herpo had systematically tortured, dismembered, abused and raped countless people, both enjoying the experiences and treating it all like your day to day science class.

I couldn't even imagine someone that disgusting actually existing, but there he was.

Once done, I closed the book, hard, the sound echoing slightly in the tunnel.

"Is that how Voldemort is still alive?" I asked, pressing a finger against my scar. "That's why I had the dreams, isn't it?"

"Dreams?" Red asked suddenly.

So, I told him of the man I'd seen die in a dream.

"I don't think that was a dream." Red said, sounding more disturbed.

"How do I get it out?" I asked, running my nail over the scar, before stopping. "It probably won't be as easy as scratching it off, huh."

"I have no idea." Red said honestly and regretfully. "The book does not specify any methods of destruction. I suppose it wouldn't— why would the creator include a method of destruction? Though, the fact that you've never heard of a Herpo out and about would suggest that the objects in which a soul is concealed might be destructible."

"True. Or he simply disappeared to live forever on a remote island." Red's calm tone was the only thing keeping me from completely losing my mind. "Wait… The Diary, Dumbledore _does_ know."

"Undoubtedly," Red said. "Though, after reading that book, it makes sense why he didn't tell you. _I_ would have kept you away, if I could."

I nodded, completely in agreement. This was magic… beyond anything I'd ever considered. Fracturing, and then splitting the soul to encase it in another item or living creature, in order to ensure immortality?

It was foul. Herpo the Foul was worthy of his name.

"Lot of good that did," I frowned in annoyance, but my heart wasn't in it. "No sense in delaying it, I suppose."

I smiled slightly. I hadn't seen Hedwig in a few days. Maybe that would help me take my mind off of things, for a short while at least.

Sitting back down, I grabbed a spare piece of parchment, dipped my quill in some ink and began to write.

" _We need to talk. I have learned some interesting things. Meet me where I first saw the Mirror. I will be there at midnight._

 _-HP_ "

I stared at the short note for a few seconds before nodding in satisfaction. It didn't say anything of great importance, but it should make the man curious enough to at least go check.

Nodding once more, I left the room, grabbing the Pokédex on the way out. It was still around 4 PM; there would be enough time for Dumbledore to get the message. I made my way through the halls of Hogwarts. Many stopped to stare and whisper at me, in awe of the strongest Champion.

I had to repress an exasperated shake of my head. A week ago, it was "Potter Stinks", and now I was the best.

Sheep would always be sheep, I reckoned.

There was a small crowd waiting outside a classroom, blocking my way. Without a second though, I barreled through the least populated zone, tearing past the startled students and continuing on.

"Too good for class, Potter?" Malfoy's voice came from behind.

I turned to see the boy glaring at me.

I smiled in amusement. "I'm a bit too old for naptime, Draco."

I took a step to him. "I seem to remember a deal that we had– something about you kissing McGonagall on the lips?"

The entire group of students cringed at the very mention.

I gave a savage grin and plowed on. "Using your tongue, of course."

"I never agreed to that." Malfoy gave a mix of a snarl and a wince.

"You mean you took the bet, and chickened out." I lied, smiling even wider. "An untrustworthy Malfoy; how typical. Then again, that's what your family's known for, isn't it?"

I turned my back on him and began to walk away. There were a few cries of alarm, and the shuffling of feet.

" _Everte Statum!_ " Malfoy cried angrily.

I moved to the right, the orange spell moving harmlessly forward, spinning and pulling out my wand in a fluid motion.

"Pathetic." I grinned in his face. "Try again. I won't even move, this time."

Malfoy glared, and snarled. " _Slugulus Eructo!_ "

A dark green jet of light erupted from his wand, coming straight for me.

Best time to try out that modified shield-charm.

" _Scutum!_ " I parried his spell as a powerful, but small dome appeared at the end of my wand. The Slug Vomiting spell Draco had sent flew to the right, harmlessly splashing against the wall.

Salazar was right. This was easier to learn than I had expected it to be. Simply imagining a buckler at the tip of my wand did the trick.

"Bad luck, that." I said, giving him a false patient look. "Care for one more?"

"I'll show you–"

"Ah, ah, ah!" I raised my index to shut him up. "I forgot to tell you what would happen if your next spell doesn't connect."

I paused for a second, before smiling slightly.

"How would you like to grow some very large teeth?" I offered, knowing he'd used such a spell on Hermione, in the time we were both ignoring each other.

That was another thing; I felt somewhat doubtful about making up with Hermione, but she hadn't tried to cause me any grief, so far. No lectures on skipping class, no hounding for homework, the works. Maybe she was really trying.

It had only been a few days since her declaration, of course. Time would tell.

I was brought back to reality when Malfoy decided that it would probably be better to retreat, at that moment. Ignoring the scandalized stares of his fellow Slytherins, and the curious stares of the Ravenclaws, Draco stomped his way into the History classroom, with his entourage following closely behind.

I smiled. That was satisfying.

The Slytherin girl I had run into a while back was staring at me intently. I made eye contact with her, making sure to give her one of the coldest looks I could imagine before walking away. She'd worn that stupid badge when I last her– well, she wasn't wearing it now, but that didn't matter since _no one_ wore it after I'd battled the Horntail.

Anyone who wore a badge –past or present – was on my shit list, unless they managed to redeem themselves to me.

' _And how is someone supposed to redeem themselves if you don't give them a chance?_ ' Part of me asked in amusement.

I didn't answer. The truth was, I didn't want to forgive anyone but Hermione, at the moment. At least, Hermione's reason for not talking to me was a product of her own issues as a person; issues she would eventually grow out of. She didn't do it to 'fit in' or for any other arbitrary, stupid reason.

Part of me kept making fun of my odd and often contradictory standards. I ignored it as best as I could.

The rest of the trip went by uneventfully, at least until I got to the Owlery's entrance, where I was bowled over by a Ravenclaw, judging from the flash of blue the plowed into me, sending us both tumbling in a heap.

I groaned in pain and annoyance, my hand tightening around something supple, warm and _soft_ as the other pressed against the ground to attempt to get up.

Wait…

I looked down.

Yep, my hand was tightening around someone's breast.

NOPE. NOPE. NOPE.

"Shit." I jumped back, feeling my face get hot as I created distant between the two of us. "I'm so, so, so sorry! "

There was no answer. Fuck!

I dared to look at the girl's face as she got up, as well. Hers was as red as mine probably was, and she had withdrawn into herself– probably in response to what happened.

"Seriously, I didn't mean to–" I was at a loss for words, getting more and more embarrassed with every second. "I– I…"

She held her hand over her mouth, stopping herself from speaking. Her eyes were wide with surprise– or was that how they normally looked? She patted herself over, making sure to pick up her wand before putting it behind her ear, and looking back at me with sky blue eyes.

"I'm sorry." She said in a dreamy voice. "I was looking for Wrackspurts and got distracted."

Looking for what? I shook my head, ready to get down on my knees and apologize for the accidental grope.

"What's a Wrackspurt?" I blurted out, instead.

She smiled, like I hadn't just put hands on her, and said. "They're invisible creatures; they float in through your ears and make your brain go fuzzy. I thought I felt one zooming around in here."

"If they're invisible, how do you know they're there?" I asked, the strangeness of the situation overriding my embarrassment for the moment. My blush began to die down as I slowly relaxed. She wasn't upset. There was no danger.

She stared at me for a second, before answering. "By using spectrespecs, one might be found. I don't have one with me, though…"

Then she did something that took my notice. It was very slight, almost unnoticeable. She began to sag in preparation for something. I wondered what it could be, before it hit me. She was expecting me to make fun of her, wasn't she?

I frowned.

What a very strange girl. She brushed off the accidental groping, just like that.

Hermione would have slapped me ten times over, by that point. What kind of person takes something like that quietly– oh…

Now I realized what I found so peculiar about her posture.

It was just like mine, back when I had to deal with Dudley and his gang all the time.

"You said there's one here?" I approached her quietly, making a show of looking around curiously.

She hesitated, eyes widening and body tensing up at my close presence. I bit down a snarl; whoever's been messing with her has forced it into her muscle memory.

'Calm down, Potter,' I told myself. 'If you look angry, that'll probably hurt her feelings.'

Instead, I gave her what I thought was an inviting smile.

"Yes." She said quietly.

"Do you have an approximate direction?" I asked, pulling out the Pokédex.

"Um…" She stared at the red device for a second, unsure of what to make of it, before pointing right above me. "I thought it was over there…"

"Hm." I said, before pointing the device in that direction.

The green light covered everything within its field of view for a few seconds, before stopping.

Ping!

"Huh." I said in surprise, flipping the Pokédex open and entering the PI section. "It detected something."

I scrolled down to the entry titled "Wrackspurt", reading off the scanned data.

"Wrackspurt. Type: Psychic. Native region: Unknown, larger sample size required. Readings indicate a 64% resemblance to the Pokémon known as Mesprit, the Emotion Pokémon. Its power rests in the domain of emotions, interfering with logic and willpower." I read the entry with fascination, before checking the image. It was just a blue speck in a black background. I zoomed in, further and further, until I got a good look at it.

It looked like a little blue-gray fairy, with a single, red-gemmed tail and butterfly wings.

"That's amazing!" I jumped as the blonde snatched my Pokédex, staring intently and eagerly at the image. "So _that's_ what it looks like! I've never seen one so closely."

I cleared my throat, getting her attention while holding my hand out expectantly.

Sheepishly, she gave it back.

"I guess Wrackspurts do exist, then." I smiled kindly. "Sorry for doubting you.."

"Luna Lovegood." She introduced herself, smiling shyly back.

"Harry Potter." I extended my hand. She probably already knew my name, but it would be rather rude not to give my name out. "Listen, I really am sorry about what happened, just now."

She blushed, before quietly replying with an "it's fine," shaking my hand gently, before quickly letting go.

I frowned. God, this girl just pulled at my heartstrings, didn't she?

"Are you free right now?" I asked suddenly. "I was just about to send an owl before relaxing for the rest of the day. If you want, maybe we could… hang out together?"

Why did I say that? Was it pity? Was it guilt? Or was it curiosity?

Perhaps it was a combination of all three.

I couldn't tell.

She seemed surprised, again. She nodded quietly.

I grinned.

"Great!" I exclaimed, before swallowing nervously, realizing I was being loud. "I'll just send off that letter now, mind waiting for a few?"

"It's all right." She said in that same tone of voice.

"Thank you." I smiled and headed into the Owlery, where Hedwig immediately swooped down on me, pecking angrily at my ears.

"Ow!" I exclaimed. "What the hell, Hedwig?"

She barked sternly.

"Oh, come on." I said. "I saw you a few days ago."

She raised a threatening claw.

"Not the claws! I'll be good." I promised, holding out a few owl treats as an olive branch. Hedwig gave me intense scrutiny, as if to say 'are you seriously trying to bribe me?'

Eventually, Hedwig caved and took her treats, giving me an affectionate but gruff nudge.

"Thanks, girl." I smiled, holding out my sealed note. "Could you send this to Headmaster Dumbledore for me? At his office, specifically."

She hooted, holding out her leg. I quickly tied the note with some string, and off she went. I stared at the quickly leaving owl for a few seconds more, before exiting the Owlery, where a hesitant Luna was still waiting.

"Sorry for the wait," I smiled apologetically as we began to walk through the corridors.

"I didn't wait long." She said, nervously fingering her… were those butterbeer caps on her necklace? She was certainly odd, but in a pretty cute way, I had to admit. "May I see the image you had of the Wrackspurt?"

God, but she sounded so hopeful.

I breathed in and flipped open my Pokédex, navigating to the image of the Wrackspurt. "Here."

"Amazing," she inspected the creature intently, once more. "I wonder if this device can detect some other creatures that daddy and I are trying to find."

"Interesting." I said. "You and your dad search for creatures?"

"Every summer." She brightened. "We go on trips searching for all sorts of magical creatures."

Then, she hesitated, not knowing what to say.

"Tell me all about it." I said. That little nudge opened up the floodgates. She began to talk about all of her trips, mentioning all of the creatures they'd come across; some, I recognized; most, I didn't. They all sounded quite imaginary –but then again, the Wrackspurts also sounded imaginary. And yet, the Pokédex detected it.

Perhaps Pokémon weren't as extinct as I was originally led to believe…

From the humming of the Pokédex, I figured Red was having a field day of his own.

 **ooooooo**

 **Woot, another chapter done! Make sure to review~**


	7. Life and Death

**I will point out, again; in this story, animals = Pokémon.**

 **Another thing; Harry is not slated to have a full team of Pokémon. I believe the three starters will be more than enough to deal with Voldemort— not counting Harry's increase in skill, as well. If he had three extras, then it would be really boring.**

 **ooooooo**  
 **Elemental Trinity  
A Harry Potter/Pokémon Crossover  
By Zero Rewind  
ooooooo**

 **Nov 29, 1994; evening, at the Black Lake.**

"So, what are we looking for?" I asked my newest companion as we trudged along the edge of the lake. "You said that there should be one of your creatures, here."

"I'm not actually sure." She said bluntly. "They might not even be in the lake. And they're not _my_ creatures, Harry. Don't be silly."

I smiled indulgently at her.

"So, which is it?" I asked eagerly.

"It's called a Dabberblimp." She said seriously, looking over the surface of the water. "They're known to converge in the shore of lakes, but there's not much else Daddy and I managed to figure out."

I stifled a snort. Luna and her father had an odd naming sense.

"So, how has no one figured out they exist?" I asked curiously.

"Ah, you see, they're so fast, it's almost impossible to keep up with them." She answered, giving me a wise nod –completely out of place on a girl her age, but it made me smile.

"Well, it's a good thing I'm here, then." I grinned. "If I can follow a snitch, then I'll be able to follow these… Dabberblimps?"

"Yes." She nodded again and supplied more information. "They're green, and they look like frogs with feathers and wings."

I briefly wondered how many "fuck you"-s modern biology could take when it came into contact with the world of magic.

Luna reached into her bag for a few seconds, before producing some parchment. She hesitated, before showing it to me. I stared at the drawn image of a four legged frog, with wings and a tail, swallowing down a worm.

It was like a frog Pegasus.

"Red." I said, the Pokédex whirring to life in response. "Keep a passive scan of our surroundings at all times. Notify me if you come across anything that matches the drawing –wait, how accurate is the sketch, Luna?"

"Fairly so." She said. "Maybe the head's too big… No, no, it's all right."

I gave a short nod in reply, and we started looking. Half an hour passed, with me and Luna slowly circling around the lake and finding nothing for our trouble except a fair bit of boredom and disappointment.

"Are you sure there are some here?" I asked as we stopped near a small copse of trees to rest.

"Yes, I definitely saw one last year." She nodded resolutely. "They're hard to find, I told you."

"You _did_ say that." I sighed, running my hand through my hair. "I just thought I could detect them."

"No offense, Harry." Luna said, after a moment. She looked hesitant as she spoke. "You're a very talented Seeker, but animals are different than a Snitch. For one, the frogs are as green as the leaves, so you might not even notice it. Plus, they're really, really fast."

"None taken." I gave her what I thought was a reassuring nod, before the Pokédex pinged, showing that it detected something.

"Directly in front of you, inside the tree; commencing deep scan," Red rattled off, before scanning over the tree with intense green light.

Half a minute later, I saw a detailed 3D representation of the tree, as well as its contents. It was a pair of green winged frogs which looked to be sleeping. A pile of unmoving, but still living worms sat beside them.

I showed the image to Luna, who almost squealed in a mix of surprise, happiness and excitement. I pointed her to the tree in question; she approached it very slowly and quietly, not wanting to disturb the… Dabberblimps' sleep.

A few waves of her wand, later, she nodded to herself, content.

"What were you able to scan, Mr. Red?" She asked eagerly as we headed off. "My own diagnostics have shown that it's not actually a frog."

The Pokédex whirred as the screen shifted to display the entry for the newest Pokémon we'd scanned.

"Dabberblimp," I read aloud. "Type: Flying. Native region: Unknown, larger sample size required. Scans on these particular subjects show that they have a hibernation period, judging by their body's slowed metabolism. This supposition is further cemented by the presence of the stockpile of worms. It seeks shelter within these trees to keep warm in the winter. It is not aquatic in nature, despite appearances."

"That's amazing," Luna said, grinning excitedly. "Daddy and I had always thought it odd that the only time they were in the water was when they were hunting seahorses. I'll be sure to write to him all about this."

And, with that, she ran off, without even saying goodbye.

That hurt me, a little. Did I not rate a goodbye?

"I wouldn't be so hard on her," Red soothed, sounding more amused than supportive. "I knew some people who did the same thing. They're just bad with dealing with others. A sheltered life tends to have that effect, on you. I should know."

I opened my mouth to answer, but Luna came back, looking faintly embarrassed and a little tired.

"I forgot to say goodbye." She smiled shyly, looking at her own two feet. "I'm not used to…"

 _Friends_ , I figured she wanted to say, but forced herself not to.

"I understand." I said, taking her hand into my own and squeezing it to reassure her. "I will speak to you, later? When do you finish studying, tomorrow?"

She rattled off a time, and I nodded in satisfaction.

"Then, we'll meet here, tomorrow at 4 PM." I smiled. "Does that sound good to you?"

"Marvelous." She breathed excitedly, before mastering herself and giving me a nod. "See you then, Harry."

"See?" Red snorted as she left. "She's as awkward as half the scientists I met— myself included."

I watched her go, the smile slipping as I slowly soured over tonight's topic of conversation with the Headmaster. With a sigh, I made my way back to the castle, heading towards that oh-so-familiar room.

 **Nearing midnight…**

" _Tempus_." I muttered, holding my wand in front of me while leaning back against the wall.

Wisps of light twisted to form: "11:53 PM"

I sighed and swished my wand through the wisps, dispersing them. It seemed like a good idea to summon Dumbledore when I was writing that note. Now, I just felt nervous and agitated.

"You could always walk out." Red suggested. "Pretend it was a prank. He'll be annoyed, but will let it go. You might get detention, though."

"That sounds moronic…" I muttered. "Maybe I can tell him I was looking for Crumple-Horned Snorkacks –I think that's what Luna called them."

Luna; now, _that_ was a strange girl. She was quirky, and nice, and so cute, in a little sister sort of way –not that I knew what having a little sister felt like. She always said the oddest things, but she was so positive and cheerful that it managed to keep my mind off my latest problem.

Speaking of which…

"There might even be the chance he doesn't even show up." Red mused.

A surge of anger went through me; so visceral was the feeling that I stamped down on it as hard as I could.

"Oh, he'll come." I didn't smile as I said that. "If he knows what's good for him, he'll come."

I tensed up for a few seconds before realizing that I was getting myself worked up _again_ and sighing in annoyance. Taking a few deep breaths, I relaxed myself as best as I could and stared off to the left. That section of the room was as dirty as the rest, but I remembered it looking differently, once upon a time.

I lost myself so deep in memories that I did not hear the Headmaster walking in.

"Back again, Harry?" His voice startled me.

So familiar; it was like that night all over again. Though, if that mirror was in front of me, again… Would I still see my parents, or would it be something else entirely? Would it be Sirius? Would I see my friends? Perhaps even my Pokémon might be in there, as well.

I truthfully didn't know. The urge came; to find the mirror, and gaze upon it— no! Even years later, that damn mirror still had a hold of my senses.

"…" I didn't answer immediately, instead getting to my feet and dusting myself off. "Yes."

I gave him a sideways glance, before staring at where the mirror used to be. "I would sit for hours in front of that mirror. I knew it was taunting me with images of things I would never have. I knew I shouldn't have come back every night. But, I still did. It truly is a powerful sort of magic."

Dumbledore said nothing.

"When I asked you what you saw, you said you saw a pair of socks." I gave a rueful grin and a shake of my head. "You didn't see socks, did you, sir?"

It was phrased like a question, but it wasn't one.

"No. I did not." He answered me anyway.

A few moments passed. I was momentarily taken by the urge to ask him exactly what he saw, but I quickly shook the feeling off. Who knew what secrets Dumbledore had?

"Do you know why I asked you to come, Professor?" I turned to look at him directly. Dumbledore wore a serious expression, though it was offset by his bright purple robes. "Obviously, it's not for a nostalgic chat."

"I must admit that I do not, Harry." Dumbledore took a few steps towards me. "Though, the wording of the message displayed a noticeable sense of urgency. Is it your Godfather?"

I blinked, thrown by the casual mention of Padfoot.

"No." I shook my head. "It's nothing like that. He's just fine, last I heard."

I pursed my dry lips for a second, wondering how exactly to broach this topic.

I frowned.

"If it was any other matter, I would probably beat around the bush with you before finally saying what I want." I said, smirking at the admittance. "But, considering the circumstances, I'll go right ahead and say it: when were you planning on telling me that my scar is a Horcrux?"

The next part almost made me laugh.

Almost.

Dumbledore's serene face was struck dumb as the words smashed into him with the subtlety of the Hogwarts Express. His eyes were wide in astonishment. He was looking at me like he'd never even seen me before.

"What do you…?" Dumbledore seemed at a loss for words, eyes narrowing in an attempt to focus his thoughts. "How did you learn of such things?"

"I found an ancient text by Herpo the Foul." I said, shivering at the mention of the man.

"It was the most disgusting thing I'd ever read in my life." I made sure to add. "The things he did to his victims on the road to figuring this category of magic out were beyond evil."

"How did you _get ahold_ of that book?" Dumbledore frowned, looking a mix of surprised and frustrated. "I thought I'd completely destroyed any mention of them in the Library."

I shook my head. "Slytherin had a study in the Chamber. I found it this year."

I gave the much older man a few moments to collect himself.

"I see. I had not thought to check the Chamber." Dumbledore waved his wand, conjuring two chairs and sitting in one, before gesturing for me to sit in the other.

I scrutinized it for a moment, completely unsure of what to do, before sitting down, as well.

"I must admit to being surprised, Harry." Professor Dumbledore said. "I had not expected you to come across such information, so soon."

"Afraid I'd go dark, or something?" I scoffed, a familiar anger rising.

"Nothing of the sort," Dumbledore seemed almost amused at my reaction. "Every single one of us has the capability of becoming monsters, Harry. The then-young Tom Riddle was the best example of this. Incredible raw talent, marvelous work ethic, and a fine amount of bravery, with great ambition; he was considered a rising star among his peers. Somewhat similar to you, I must admit."

I opened my mouth and shut it again, unsure of whether or not to be angry that he was comparing me to Voldemort.

"Only in the vaguest sense, Headmaster." I finally countered, frowning. "Riddle was –is – a backstabbing, traitorous tosser with a God complex. He was insane from the get-go. He's…"

I stopped for a second, unsure of how to describe the evil wizard.

"He's _cold_." I finally decided on saying. "The way he spoke when he showed me his memories, and when I dealt with him in the Chamber... It's all fake; his smile, his laugh, his eyes, everything. It's like a demon attempting to pass off as a human. He never allowed himself to have friends. All he sees are pawns in his allies, and obstacles in his enemies."

"He even went as far to make these Horcruxes…" I fingered my scar, before looking right at the Headmaster. "How many did he make? We need to destroy them."

"I do not know." Dumbledore replied quietly.

Say what?

I let out a bark of incredulous laughter, feeling just a little queasy at the older wizard's admission.

"You don't know." I repeated, sagging in my chair. "How?"

"Contrary to popular belief and appearances, my boy." Dumbledore reproved me. "I do not have all the answers."

I felt sheepish at that. I supposed he was right; it would be too much to expect of a single person, no matter how great.

"That is not to say that I have not been looking, of course." Albus added in. "I had actually begun to retrace young Tom Riddle's steps during the summer, before news of the Triwizard Tournament came –Not an event I approve of, due to the obvious dangers."

"Between going up against a dragon and having to go to the bottom of a lake to save a hostage, I can't say you're wrong to disapprove." I said wryly.

He looked surprised again. "You've already solved the clue, then?"

I gave a slight smile, but said nothing.

"Remarkable." Dumbledore said. "I daresay that you've taken the world by surprise, Harry."

"Even you?" I asked.

"Especially me," He said. "The creatures you summoned were very fascinating. May I ask what they are? Hagrid was quite reticent when asked, insisting that they were indeed your own conjurations."

"And how can you be so sure that they're not?" I asked, sounding a bit defensive. If the Ministry knew they were living, magical beings, they would probably try to make legislation to take them from me.

"I am a Master of Transfiguration, Harry." Dumbledore looked somewhat condescending as he spoke. It reminded me of Red, when sharing his knowledge on Pokémon. "While I will not claim to be aware of all existing spells in what I consider to be my domain of expertise, I will say that I know quite a few. What you did likely has more to do with those curious red and white balls you used during the task."

Jeez, he already figured out this much?

"Fair enough, Headmaster." I acknowledged. "They are creatures from an age long past –before any recorded history, in fact."

"Surely not." Dumbledore seemed skeptical. "How would they still be alive? The only magical creature which is truly immortal is the phoenix."

I opened my mouth to answer, before closing it. How _did_ my Pokémon survive their time in that box?

"Red, could you take this one for me?" I asked, giving a helpless shrug.

"Who's –" Dumbledore started to say, before Red's synthesized voice exited from the Pokédex.

"I'm Red." The voice came from my pocket. I rolled my eyes, pulling out the aforementioned device and showing it to Dumbledore; the screen turned on, displaying the man in question. "I put my consciousness into this machine you see before you."

"Before you say anything, it's not a Horcrux." I interrupted the Headmaster before he could say anything. "It's highly advanced technology."

Dumbledore looked thunderous as he stood abruptly.

I suppressed a wince, unsure of how this would turn out.

"Are you absolutely sure?" Dumbledore urged, his wand out –wait, when'd he have the time to do that?

"As sure as I can be, sir." I nodded without hesitation, waving the Pokédex in front of me. "And, besides, if this was a Horcrux, why would I _show_ it to you?"

His gaze lowered slightly, calculating, before he looked at me again.

"Still, it wouldn't hurt to run some scans…" Dumbledore said stubbornly; an untrusting look in his eyes.

I wanted to groan, but I suppressed it quickly enough. I'd probably do the same thing, if I were in his shoes. For all he knew, Red could be a Horcrux that had already ensnared me.

"Well, if you insist." I held it out in front of him, opening the screen to display Red's hesitant image. "Scans, only."

"Very well."

He waved his wands a few times, muttering to himself as the lights of his diagnostic spells came over me. He closed his eyes, as I had often seen Madame Pomfrey do when assimilating the information she got from her scans.

When he opened them again, he looked visibly relaxed. His thunderous expression was completely gone.

"I must apologize again, Harry." Dumbledore gave me a nod as he took his seat once more. "I had to be sure. This is not a slight against your ability, of course."

"You don't have to be polite about it." I snorted. "You've been Headmaster even before my own parents were born, sir. I'd probably be a little… _stubborn_ by that time, as well."

"Since we've established that I am not a vile piece of magic," Red cut in, sounding quite miffed at what just happened. "Can I answer your question, now?"

I frowned, a bit confused –oh, right. "How did the Pokémon survive? Do they not age in the Pokéballs?"

"Yes, they do." Red replied, glancing at Dumbledore's beard. "That's a really long beard, by the way. Is it hard to maintain? Never mind; that's a stupid question."

The Headmaster blinked in surprise, before smiling slightly; his eyes regaining their telltale twinkle.

"In any case," Red tore his eyes away from the beard. "The black box you found the balls in was set to hold everything in it in a sort of stasis. When opened, the stasis was broken. That's why the Pokédex, my clothes and ID remained intact, there, for thousands of years."

"Thousands?" Dumbledore repeated, looking at me. "And you say you found this in the Chamber of Secrets, which itself had been hidden for a thousand years?"

I nodded. "Salazar found it at Mount Everest, near the peak, as far as I can tell."

"Remarkable."

"I don't really know how long it's been, but-"

"I do." Red said quietly.

Shock went through me. "You do? Why didn't you say anything?"

"Doesn't really matter, does it, Harry?" Red sounded unhappy. "They're gone anyway."

"Forgive my curiosity," Dumbledore began. "But-"

"Fifty thousand, four hundred and thirty seven years, eight months, and three days," Red said. "Give or take a month or two."

"How did you…" I sounded confused.

"We've been fighting the Acromantula swarms every other night, Harry." Red reproved me, sounding amused. "I've had ample time to scan the night sky, and make the relevant calculations relating to stellar drift, and whatnot."

I took a moment to absorb that comment,

"How would you know about _that_ ; when you don't know about Herbology?" I asked in exasperation.

"There are Pokémon which directly affect our space-time. To study their powers, a thorough grounding in all aspects of physics is required." Red explained patiently, before scoffing. "The study of plants, on the other hand… I leave that sort of thing to the likes of _Erika_."

I absently noted the name belonged to the leader of one of the Gyms he had beaten on his way to become champion. There must've been some history, there.

"So… Fifty thousand, huh?" I asked weakly. "That's… Long."

"That's what she said." Red quipped. Dumbledore looked amused, as well.

I didn't think the old man would find that funny— he was much older than old McGonagall, and she was a bore to the extreme.

"Oh for fuck's sake, Red." I sighed, rubbing at my forehead in exasperation. "Whatever. Just explain the whole story to the Headmaster, so we can figure out what to do from here."

Red did so –and with an incredible amount of detail, at that. It was more than I would have said, at any rate.

"I see." Dumbledore said heavily, when it was all laid out. "I will need time to process this, you understand. A society of technology using proto-wizards who bonded with creatures so powerful they can easily defeat our current strongest magical creatures –arguably the human ancestors of modern wizards…"

"It's a bit much to take in." I agreed. "I've known for almost a month, and I'm still trying to wrap my head around it. If that wasn't enough, I found out about this Horcrux business…"

"I'm sorry, Harry." Dumbledore looked tired when he said that. "It is too big a burden for anyone to bear. I have been doing all I can, ever since you showed me Voldemort's diary. Only then, did I truly understand what the scar on your forehead signified."

Annoyance rose in me, but I pressed it back down.

"I understand your anger," Dumbledore said heavily, having noticed the small slip in control. "But, please, understand my position. What destroys a Horcrux?"

I opened my mouth, and closed it again, thrown by the abrupt question. "What do you mean, sir?"

"A Horcrux is an _extremely_ durable object, Harry." Dumbledore explained, weary but patient. "That is in part why many dark wizards have all at least made the attempt to create one of their own; guaranteed immortality through an almost indestructible object."

"Key word: almost," Red interjected. "I'm assuming that the poison of a Basilisk can destroy a Horcrux."

"Correct." Dumbledore smiled, though there was no humor or mirth in it. "That is but one of the methods. The other, is through the use of a cursed flame spell called Fiendfyre. I am unaware of any other methods. I suppose the Killing Curse could theoretically destroy one, though I've never seen mention of one trying; also of note, the mental state required to cast the Killing Curse may not be available to all."

I felt a pit in my stomach, growing larger with every passing second.

"The venom was in my veins, running through every part of me, but it still did not kill the Horcrux?" I realized. "How far would it have to go until –no."

I stared at Dumbledore, eyes wide in realization.

Dumbledore merely nodded in response.

"Do you understand now, Harry?" The old man said, looking every bit the age he was in that moment. "Would you have wanted that knowledge in your mind, two years ago?"

I had no answer.

"No." I shook my head. "There has to be another way. No, no, no-"

"–Harry." Dumbledore tried.

"This can't be right." I stood up and began to pace. "You must be missing something. This can't be it."

"I have been searching, my dear boy." Dumbledore looked down in shame. "For _anything_ that can help you; almost two years of fruitless searching."

He got up, and put his hands on my shoulders, stopping me from pacing. "Harry. I _will_ find a way. I swear it."

I wanted to lash out at the man. He'd never done anything to me, but he was there, and it would be so convenient to just let loose on him. But, that was wrong.

So I bit down on that urge; just another repression in a long list of repressions.

And what was it all for? I was going to die, anyway, right?

"May I scan the Diary, Headmaster Dumbledore?" Red's voice cut through my fatalistic thoughts. "I might be able to uncover something that you did not."

Dumbledore looked doubtful, but one look at me, and he caved. "Very well; It wouldn't hurt to make the attempt, at the very least. I wish to explore any and all eventualities that may spare you, Harry."

I tried to nod, but I felt dead inside.

It was all going to end, anyway.

What's the point? If the Tournament didn't kill me, then Voldemort would. If Voldemort didn't kill me, then I'd have to die for the Horcruxes to be completely gone, for good.

Did I even have a chance?

"Harry." Dumbledore shook me out of my trance, giving me the gravest look he could manage given the circumstances. "Your death is _not_ an option. _Do you understand?_ "

"I –yes." I replied weakly, before shrugging off his hands and sinking heavily back into the seat.

I didn't believe him.


	8. Friendship and Loyalty

**I've written a book!**

It's called ** **"The Dreg of Bellmead"** , **and it's a **Dark Fantasy novel!** It's part of a large **series** I am naming ****"Conduit"**.**

Here's the description!

 **Description:** Finding out there was a world of magic lurking right under his nose sounded like fun— until he made contact. Instead, Nevan has to fight for his survival in a world of monsters, blood sacrifice and death, as well as maintain his sanity when the voices of the souls he'd consumed begin to speak to him.

I've released it on **amazon,com/dp/B07XRVXXPB** ( **replace** the **comma** with a **period** , obviously)

Make sure to **review it on Amazon and Goodreads!**

You can also access it on my website: **samirka,xyz** ( **replace** the **comma** with a **period** again, haha)

Thank you so much! Now, on to the story!

 **ooooooo  
Elemental Trinity  
A Harry Potter/Pokémon Crossover  
ooooooo**

 **Nov 30, 1994; 3:10 PM; Astronomy Tower**

 _I have to die._

 _Your death is not an option, Harry._ Dumbledore's words came.

 _I have to die._

 _What is the point of my existence?_

 _I have to die._

 _That can't be it. There has to be more._

 _I have to die._

 _I want more than that._

 _I have to die._

 _I refuse. I won't let Voldemort win!_

 _And yet, I have to die to truly kill him._

 _No. Let the world_ _ **burn**_ _! So what if I'm the remaining Horcrux?_

 _Let the innocents who have never heard of wizards burn?_

…

 _Let Hermione die? What did she do to deserve such a fate?_

 _I don't want to die. Haven't I done enough for everyone?_

 _I have to die._

 _Haven't I lost enough?_

Those were my thoughts as I stared over the Hogwarts grounds from the Astronomy Tower.

Dumbledore's revelation continued to weigh on my mind.

To destroy the Horcrux, I had to die. There was no other way. His attempt to reassure me had been hollow.

I understood why he hadn't said a word on the matter. Part of me wished that he _hadn't_ told me.

 _You can't think like that, Potter._ My inner self snarled. _You're supposed to be part of the House of Gryffindor! The Brave and the Bold!_

"Hat wanted to put me in Slytherin." I mumbled weakly. Red said nothing, likely realizing that wasn't directed at him.

 _And we sure showed that ruddy piece of cloth what's what!_ My inner self countered. _Are you going to sulk here forever? You've already avoided Hermione and the others. Are you going to avoid Luna, as well?_

"..." I didn't reply.

 _She is like you._ My inner self sounded like he was holding himself back from snarling at me. _Do you want to cause her pain like the sort you received when you were a child?_

"..." I gave no reply, though I forced myself to my feet. I felt like crying, but I suppressed the tears whenever they threatened to appear.

I was stronger than that, at least.

I scoffed; the strong, silent hero going headlong into his own death. How poetic!

"Feeling better?" Red's voice came from the device.

"...Not really." I replied quietly.

"I understand." Red said.

"You understand, do you?" I felt my ire rising as I made my way through the castle.

"Fair point." Red conceded as I went down the moving staircases. "I don't understand what you're going through, but I can still _sympathize._ "

"I don't want your sympathy, Red!" I almost lost hold of myself in that moment. "I just…"

 _I don't want to deal with this crap anymore._

"Both Dumbledore and I will do our best." Red insisted. "He has his own knowledge base, while I have mine."

I didn't reply, entering the hallways once more. I was to meet Luna near the Great Lake— there was plenty of time.

"Wandering the halls alone, Scarhead?" Draco's voice came from behind me.

 _Just what I need._

Without hesitation, I spun and silently cast a stunner, knocking the ponce out cold in less than a second.

In the time it took for Malfoy's two goons to realize what had happened, I had cast another two stunners.

The hulking brutes fell over their leader, Goyle's face mushing against Malfoy's.

 _Disgusting. I think their lips are touching._

I grimaced at the ugly sight and, with a shake of my head, left the scene, passing by a shocked looking duo of Slytherin girls— one of them being the girl I'd bumped into a while back. The other was Davis. I didn't even acknowledge their presence.

If I had a limited time on this Earth, then I preferred to spend it with people I liked, not scum like _Malfoy._

"Potter!" I heard the girl's voice from behind.

I spun quickly and readied myself for another fight. Unlike Malfoy, this one was actually learning material far beyond our year's curriculum.

It was probably going to be tough.

I went into a dueling stance as she held her hands up in surrender.

"Calm down!" She said, her blonde hair fluttering along with her movements. "I don't want to fight you."

She nodded to the heap of stooges. "I'd say you've shown exactly how frighteningly powerful you are, in this instance."

I blinked, lowering my wand but not leaving the stance. "What do you want, then?"

Davis stayed quiet.

"I want you to teach me, Potter." The blonde said.

"I—" I said before closing my mouth. She wanted me to teach her? "Teach you what?"

"How you fought like that." She took a step forward, eyes aggressive and demanding.

I blinked again, still not truly comprehending. "You want _me_ to teach _you_ how to fight?"

"Are you deaf, Potter?" She countered. "That is exactly what I've just said."

I narrowed my eyes.

"It's less me being deaf and more me wondering _why_ you would want to learn anything from me _._ " I replied frigidly, assessing her features. "I don't even _know your name._ "

She bristled at that.

I shook my head, losing interest in the situation. I was going to be late to a meeting with someone who was actually worth my time.

"The answer is no." I turned and briskly left the premises. Did she think I was stupid?

She was probably planning on cornering me with more reinforcements before humiliating me in some fashion. As far as I could tell, such was the Slytherin way.

Plus, I didn't forget the fact that they both quite happily wore the stupid badges.

"Today is just not your day." Red said.

I snorted, completely in agreement. "It just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?"

I sighed deeply, warding the thoughts away as I exited the castle and made my way to the Great Lake.

"Hopefully some time with Luna will sort things out." Red offered.

"Yes." I nodded without really agreeing. "Maybe it will."

The rest of the trip to the Great Lake was quietly made; nothing more needed to be said between us. With a mutter of _"Tempus"_ , I checked the time.

 _3:50 PM_

 _I'm early._

I sighed and waved my wand, transfiguring the ground behind me into something much softer and taking a seat.

"Useful, that." Red commented. "Your manipulation of Aura never ceases to amaze."

I snorted. "I'm glad I can amaze the mighty Champion of Kanto."

"Wiseass." Was his immediate answer. "I have been processing the information Dumbledore has shared, and I'm currently cross-referencing data pertaining to souls, Aura, Ghost-types and Pokemon moves."

I stopped to consider the information. "And?"

"Nothing yet, though there is significant data to go through." Red supplied. "Doing broad searches usually ends with this sort of problem."

"I understand." I said, feeling my voice tremble for a second. I took a moment to regain my composure.

"I'll find an answer." Red sounded confident. "I always have, in the past."

I entertained the thought of possibly surviving for a while, before looking around in confusion. It had been quite a while, and there was still no sign of Luna.

" _Tempus._ " I incanted.

 _4:10 PM_

"She's late." I murmured.

 _Or maybe she stood you up._ The thought came unbidden.

I snorted. There was no way in hell she would miss a fun afternoon looking for random creatures to scan. It was her passion, after all.

She must have simply been held up.

With that in mind, I lay back and stared up at the cloudy sky, letting my mind drift off in the sea of gray; thoughts of Horcruxes, blonde Slytherins and drama of all kinds filtered away into nothing.

I stayed that way for quite a while, until I began to hear the pitter-patter of footsteps, but there was something odd about it. I couldn't quite place the reason of the strangeness.

Opening my eyes, I got to my feet and dusted myself off before looking towards the source of the noise. It was Luna.

I smiled. She was late, but she'd come.

" _Tempus._ " I cast for the third time that day.

 _5:20 PM_

I had been lying down for more than an hour? Time felt like it had stood still! Shaking my head in amazement, I waved the floating numbers and letters away before focusing my attention on the girl.

She was moving around carefully for some reason. Perhaps she had hurt herself the day before? It would have explained the lateness.

I blinked, my eyes going down to her feet; her _bare_ feet.

Luna was walking barefoot at the end of November. It might not have begun snowing— that was going to happen any week now— but the ground was still hard and _quite_ cold.

"Luna!" I rushed toward the girl, stopping her in her tracks and helping her to the soft spot of ground I'd made.

"Thank you, Harry." She murmured weakly. In an instant, I had Charmander out.

My fiery companion materialized in a flash of light, snorted a few flames and shivered in the cold air.

He growled and bathed a few nearby rocks in fire, turning them red-hot and providing us with a heat source.

It looked like the training was paying off, big-time. Red had said that he would soon evolve. If Charmander's flames were this powerful now, how much stronger would he get when he reached his final evolutionary state— as Charizard?

It was mind-boggling.

"He's so adorable!" Luna cried out, moving away from the soft earth to pet my companion. Charmander growled but obediently held himself back when I gave him a look.

"What is he?" Luna asked curiously, keeping her eyes on the little monster the entire time. "We all saw him and two others at the First Task, of course, but we never figured out what they were."

"Can you take this question, Red?" I pulled the device out and opened it. The screen turned on, displaying Red's visage looking at us neutrally.

"Would you like an explanation as to what Charmander is specifically?" Red asked. "Or, would you prefer a more broad view of Pokemon?"

"Both, please!" Luna settled back down on the soft earth. With a wave of my wand, I transfigured some for myself and had a seat, placing the Pokedex in front of us both.

"All right." Red smiled. "Are you ready?"

He got nods in return.

"Very well. I suppose you should've had this speech much earlier, Harry. It's something of a rite of passage for beginning trainers. I'm not actually a Pokemon Professor, but I suppose being Champion is a close second.

"Pokemon is the name we gave to all creatures in our world." Red began.

"Why?" Luna interrupted curiously.

"Because we use these devices called Pokeballs." The image of Red zoomed out as he grabbed one of the balls at his belt and pressed the button, releasing a Charizard next to him. "Which can hold any of the monsters in our world. We can fit them into our pocket. Hence, they are pocket monsters; Pokemon."

"I see!" Luna nodded, before raising a finger. "But, wouldn't that make them belt monsters, since you had them on your belt?"

Red returned the unmoving Charizard before giving her an amused look. "Funny, I said something similar, my first time around. Suffice to say, old Oak didn't appreciate that. Anyway, on with the introduction."

"We used them as pets, companions, and often in battle, as they possessed great powers which could only be honed to their full potentials with trainers." Red explained, smiling at the memories. "That's the broad view of it."

A few seconds passed before Luna finally spoke, still petting the annoyed Charmander. "I think I understand. And Charmander specifically?"

"Charmander is a fire-type, as you can tell by the flame at the end of his tail." Red began to explain before Luna interrupted him once again.

"Type?" There was a glint in her eye. I stifled a sigh as Red went in full explanation mode, going through the broad view of all the information I had been learning over the past few months.

It was worth it, however, to see Luna's eyes sparkle in amazement and wonder at a long-forgotten world of mythical and powerful creatures— even by the magical world's standard.

Creatures which formed the land and sea, creatures which controlled the weather, creatures which ensured we had day and nighttime, and so on.

It almost made me forget about her cut and blistered bare feet.

Almost.

"Luna…" I interrupted her volley of questions. "Why did you come barefoot?"

She froze for a moment, before turning to me, not really meeting my eyes with her own unfocused gaze.

 _Defense mechanism._

"Oh, I lost all my shoes." Luna replied dreamily. "I'm sure they'll turn up eventually."

I felt a fire roar to life in my belly, but suppressed it as strongly as it came. "They'll _turn up_?"

"Oh, yes." She nodded, looking down at Charmander, who was no longer trying to struggle. Charmander poked at her hand. She smiled slightly and continued to pet him.

"Luna, I—" I was at a loss for words. "Have you _lost_ things before?"

"Yes, but they always—"

" _Luna."_

Her pale, silvery eyes focused, staring right into my own ones of emerald for just a moment before unfocusing once again.

She plastered a smile on her face, her dotty aura coming back in full swing.

 _It's a fake smile._

"It's all good fun!" She said.

If anything, it made my blood boil even more. "Luna… Who did it?"

Her eyes focused on me once again, but she didn't answer, her body taut with tension.

I looked away in frustration. I wanted to find whoever did this and hex them to bits, but Luna's refusal to even say anything spoke volumes to me.

"You're afraid they'll escalate if I do anything." I realized. "You've tried to talk to teachers before and nothing happened; so they got worse, didn't they?"

It was like a repeat of my days with Dudley at school. Luna was momentarily surprised by my words before her look shifted to sudden realization.

She relaxed, blinking slowly. "You understand."

I sighed through my nose, closing my eyes and remembering those unpleasant years. "All too well, Luna. All too well."

She didn't say anything to that.

"I know what you're going through." I felt an intense urge to speak. "I won't do anything if it means making it worse."

 _She walked all the way here on bare feet just to make sure she didn't lose what probably was her only friend. It must have been agonizing._ I thought sadly.

Luna still didn't respond, instead letting Charmander go, scooting over to me and leaning her head on my shoulder.

"Do you at least know who's doing this?" I asked quietly.

She shook her head.

"If these people do something… worse, will you tell me?" I asked.

Luna didn't answer again. I sighed, feeling even more frustrated than before. A few seconds later, she finally spoke.

"Thank you." Luna said quietly.

I looked down at her as Charmander sat by the Pokedex, poking at it with his claws. "What for?"

"For caring."

I felt my heart twist at her words. "You don't have to thank me for that, Luna."

"..."

"I won't pry anymore." I tried to smile but the expression came out a little strained. "Do you want to just sit here and learn more about Pokemon for a while?"

"That would be quite nice, Harry." Her dreamy voice was back.

"...Then that's what we'll do." I finished and took a deep breath. "All right, Red, Luna. Have at it."

And so the rest of the day was spent teaching Luna about the world of Pokemon and beyond.

 **Nov 30, 1994; 10:30 PM; Chamber of Secrets**

"Keep at it, Charmander!" I smiled as the loyal creature liberally bathed the dead basilisk with its flames. "Make sure to make it a long, steady stream of fire."

He cut off his training to give me a nod before going at it once again.

Squirtle was doing the exact same thing, but with bubbles on the other side of the basilisk.

Hopefully, this will aid Charmander in learning Flamethrower, and Squirtle in learning Bubblebeam down the line— hopefully before the Second Task.

Bulby sat beside me, her vines lifting the basilisk's tail as strength training. I wanted those vines to be strong enough to tear steel apart.

I hadn't forgotten the immediate danger of the Triwizard Tournament, even though the thought of Horcruxes loomed over my mind incessantly.

The drive to live and conquer this new hurdle had only begun to set in my mind after I'd escorted Luna back to her dormitories, letting her wear my shoes the whole way.

She'd thanked me and given me a kiss on the cheek, before skipping her way inside.

It was humbling, in a way. After what those bullies had done to her, she was still so positive, innocent and friendly.

 _That_ was what I wanted to protect. That was what my mother and father had died protecting.

I refused to let some soul piece latched onto me ruin it. _I will not have it!_

"You're looking much better, now." Red said, his face appearing in the open Pokedex beside me. "Have you come to an answer?"

"Yes." I nodded, a determined feeling settling itself in my gut. "I've always been a fighter. This is no different. I won't let Voldemort win! Not with this, not with anything else."

"Well said." Red eyed me with respect, before changing the topic. "Just be patient. I've never failed in anything I've truly set my mind to."

I nodded, feeling a little sheepish. I'd been so melancholic and melodramatic the entire day, but Red had accepted it so easily.

"There's no need to apologize." The man easily read my face again. "I would have reacted the same way."

"Really?" I was skeptical, and gestured at him. "You're working on a solution already."

"I may be a human consciousness in a machine, Harry." Red seemed wry. "But I can process data at a rate of 55 gigaflops."

That didn't explain a thing to me.

"How much is that?" I replied.

"Let's just say that it's really fast— for the size of the machine, anyway." Red said. "It allows me to cross-reference thousands of years of data as well as make predictive models of untested procedures with a fairly high percentage chance of success. It will still take time, of course. So far, I've only managed to increase your chance of survival from 5% to 13%. I will not even consider a procedure unless it reaches beyond 70% chance of success, and even then I will give it substantial thought."

I blinked at the information overload, before shaking my head. "I didn't really understand most of that, but I did understand the part where you're improving."

Red seemed amused. "You just focus on the Triwizard and your friends. You haven't talked to either Hermione or Neville today."

I winced, the feeling of guilt overcoming me for a moment. "I didn't want to see anyone. Besides, what am I supposed to say to them, now?"

"Yes." Red said. "But you're past that now. As for what to say; while I wouldn't suggest telling anyone about this Horcrux business, you should still tell them that you didn't quite feel well."

I shrugged.

"You should look into getting Neville to create apricorns, you know." He continued. "Imagine being able to capture any magical creature."

That took my interest. "Hagrid would certainly love something like that."

"He would." Red agreed with a smirk. "But I was thinking along the lines of using it in the Great Lake. It's full of monsters."

"Yes." I agreed, the idea slowly growing on me. "There are grindylows, selkies and who knows what else."

"It probably wouldn't work on the grindylows." Red mused. "As they move in formation. Catching one wouldn't do anything. A solitary animal can likely be neutralized, of course. It could even be used to buy you some precious time. It takes a while for Pokemon to break out of their cages, after all."

"This is assuming we even manage to create the Pokeballs before the Second Task." I snorted. "Don't get too ahead of yourself, Red. We don't even know if Neville will even do this for us, let alone succeed."

"From what time I've had to analyze the boy, I know for a fact that this is something he'll do, and do it gladly." Red was supremely confident in his statement.

I turned my attention to my Pokemon and smiled. "You guys can rest now. You've been at it for a while."

Bulby and Charmander nodded, though I couldn't see Squirtle from behind the basilisk. He was no longer shooting his bubbles, so he must have stopped as well.

A few seconds later, he joined us in our small huddle.

I thought for a long moment, of what I would say to them.

"Sorry I didn't properly call you out yesterday, guys." I scratched Bulby's bulb, watching her shiver in pleasure. "I have to talk to you about something. Something really bad happened, and—"

I couldn't finish the sentence, finding myself at a loss for words. How could I tell them that my life was in danger?

"There's something wrong with me." I quietly said. "And it m-might kill me down the line. Like a disease."

Their eyes widened as they looked at me.

"But, I am going to fight it." I quickly added. "I'm not giving up on it. I refuse to. But, if anything happens to me, well… I-I want you guys to—"

I couldn't finish the sentence, my heart having leapt to my throat. I struggled to hold back tears.

"If anything happens to me, I want you to stay with—"

The three cut me off by huddling closer and giving me a tight, group hug. They could not speak the words, but this action alone spoke volumes.

 _Loyal to the very end._

"You guys…" I felt an indescribable mix of happiness and sadness overwhelm me, the tears flowing freely now. "Thank you."


	9. A Date?

As always, thank you for supporting my book, **The Dreg of Bellmead**! I appreciate every single one of you :)

Link to my book: **amazon,com/dp/1692456148** (replace comma with period)

Join my discord: **discord,gg/Pq5J8dX** (same as before, replace comma with period)

I'd love to chat with all of you!

The only rule is: don't be a meanie! Pretty simple, right?

I'll be updating **A Song of Ice, Fire and Lightning,** next. Then, **The Z Gamer!**

 **On with the show!**

 **ooooooo  
Elemental Trinity  
A Harry Potter/Pokémon Crossover  
ooooooo**

 **Dec 5, 1994; 1:00 PM; Great Hall**

"But why would you want—" Neville seemed confused at my request.

"It has to do with a project I'm working on." I whispered to him out of Hermione's earshot, trying not to annoy her as she was busy with some homework. "It's to do with my three little friends."

"Oh." Neville blinked. "All right. I'll speak to Professor Sprout about setting aside a bit of space in the Greenhouses."

"Brilliant!" I blurted. "Thanks, Neville—"

"On one condition." Neville cut me off.

I studied him for a moment, before nodding. "Name it."

"I want you to accompany me to Diagon Alley so I can get a wand." Neville made his condition known.

I was a bit taken aback at that. Hadn't he been the one to heavily oppose this?

"I've thought about what you've said, Harry." Neville seemed to read my confused face well. "About abandoning my parents and all. You're right."

I looked away, remembering the night I'd spoken to him, and the time I'd helped him in Transfiguration.

Like myself, he dealt with his suffering by worshipping his parents' memories and things they'd left behind.

"They would have wanted me to be myself." Neville's eyes burned with determination. "Nevermind what Gran says."

"Well said, Neville." Hermione piped up, smiling up at us before returning to her homework.

I raised a glass for him with a nod. The boy only blushed in response to the praise.

"You're on a roll, I have to say." I said after taking a sip. "First, you asked Ginny to accompany you to the Ball, and now this."

"Yes, well…" Neville looked away. "Have you asked anyone yet?"

 _Smooth._ I thought with a snort.

"I haven't." I shrugged. The nervousness I would have felt at the idea of finding a date to the Yule Ball seemed to take a backseat to more frightening concepts like my impending death— either from the Tournament, or whatever Voldemort likely had planned for me.

This was all assuming that I was able to fix the Horcrux issue, in the first place.

"I'm sure something will turn up." I finally said.

"Harry, as a Champion, you have to—"

"Yes, I must attend the Ball and begin the ceremonies with a dance." I agreed, sighing. "I suppose I've been putting it off for long enough."

 _You could always skip the whole thing._ A sly part of me spoke. _Why attend their nonsensical events?_

 _Because it may affect the Goblet of Fire's judgment process._ I retorted. _How do I know the Yule Ball isn't officially part of the Tournament? I could skip the gathering and lose my magic._

The voice did not talk back.

I turned to Hermione. "Can I ask you something?"

"'May I', Harry." Hermione automatically corrected. "And, if you're going to ask me to the—"

"No!" I cut her off quickly— too quickly, judging by her affronted glare. "I mean— not that I wouldn't ask you— it's just that, well, you're more like a sister to me."

She narrowed her eyes at me for a few seconds, before nodding in acceptance. "Good save. What's your question, then?"

"Who do you think I should approach?" I asked.

"Whoever you like." Hermione replied, a coy look on her face. "I seem to remember your eyes following a certain Ravenclaw Seeker last year."

She was talking about Cho. I hadn't looked in her direction in months.

"Though, I've also noticed you sneaking a few glances at someone else in Ravenclaw." She said, almost innocently.

Unbidden, my eyes moved towards Luna's form. She was in her usual strange get-up, reading the Quibbler upside down.

"Yes." Hermione caught my attention again. I turned to see the bushy haired girl looking at Luna, as well. "Maybe you should ask her to the Ball, Harry."

"I…" Words failed me for a few seconds. "I can't ask her."

There was no way she'd go out with me.

"Why not?" Hermione asked. I was about to answer, before I closed my mouth, a thoughtful look on my face.

Why not, indeed?

Luna was a sweet girl, and very passionate about magizoology, just like I was. The two of us had much in common, including less than pleasant childhoods.

I left the Great Hall in a bit of a daze, barely noticing the pandemonium that took place after Ron put his foot in his mouth in an attempt to ask Hermione to the Ball.

Some time later, I found myself in the Chamber, still considering Hermione's words as I watched my companions battle each other.

"You know." Red's synthesized voice cut through my thoughts. "You probably _should_ ask Luna."

"You too?" I felt a little annoyed.

"She likes you." Red supplied.

"Well, yes, we're friends." I retorted. "I don't think she likes me well enough to want to come to the Ball with me."

"You won't know until you try." Red countered. "I've seen unlikelier relationships form over the years."

Here, he chuckled. "You should've seen Green and Sabrina, always at each other's throats. Now _that_ was a match. I've displayed an image of them."

Interested, I opened the Pokédex and stared at the couple in question.

I blinked. "Why are they posing?"

Another chuckle. "Sabrina loved to pose, and made Green do so as well."

It was an image of the two. They stood back to back, turning their heads to the camera while pointing their palms toward it.

At their feet were a Jolteon and an Espeon, snarling at the camera. The Jolteon's spiky yellow fur sparked with electricity while the Espeon's smooth purple fur leaked Psychic energy.

Though Green looked a little uncomfortable, the smirk on his face seemed genuine.

"He looks happy." I smiled.

"Yes." Red agreed. "They were very happy together, but if you'd asked me years before they got together, I would have said it was impossible."

I nodded, understanding the lesson behind it.

"I guess, in this life, there's no way of telling what can happen." I acknowledged.

"Just give it a chance." Red nodded. "If it doesn't work out, then it doesn't work out. There's no point worrying about what-ifs."

"You're right." I said. "I mean, I haven't even asked her yet."

"Exactly."

I jumped a bit from the harsh impact Charmander made against the dead basilisk, crying out in pain.

I called for an end to the battle, watching as Charmander struggled to get back up, failing.

"You all right, buddy?"

Charmander did not reply, still struggling.

I approached him, now worried.

Charmander growled, a wave of energy coming off of him and sending me skidding slowly backwards.

The Pokédex beeped. "Already?"

Before I could ask what Red was talking about, a white light began to engulf Charmander.

"Evolution!" I realized in awe, watching with bated breath. My two other companions cried out in wonder and reverence.

The light began to die down, revealing… Charmander? He hadn't evolved.

What had happened?

"Almost, but not quite." Red explained after a few moments. "That impact must have jump started the process early, but Charmander isn't ready for greater power, yet."

"But he's been improving in leaps and bounds." I said as I checked the little guy over. "Poor thing's exhausted."

I grabbed some berries and placed them at his feet, watching as he lunged at them like it was his final meal.

"Yes, Charmander is reaching the higher limits of what that particular breed is capable of." Red explained. "But the transformation into Charmeleon will be like comparing a candle to a bonfire. It is a powerful line of Pokémon. Where the Squirtle line relies on defensive tactics and the Bulbasaur line relies on a mix of redirection and regeneration, the Charmander line is almost solely suited for power."

I absorbed the words with a nod, watching as Charmander loudly yawned and lied down for a well deserved nap.

I felt Bulby's whip nudge me, and turned to see my two remaining friends giving me expectant looks.

I smiled. "You're hungry, too?"

The two nodded.

I snorted and gave them some food as well, my thoughts slowly moving away from evolution and back to Luna.

I sat by Charmander and gently scratched the back of his head, watching as he relaxed further and fell asleep.

"I'm glad you're dealing with things better now." Red said quietly.

I gave a hum of acknowledgment. After Red and my Pokémon's show of faith and loyalty, I felt I had to rise up to the challenge.

"Have you figured anything out yet?" I asked.

There was a moment of silence, long enough to make me wonder if he was trying to spare me the pain of a negative answer.

"I think I'm on the right track." Red revealed slowly, to my surprise.

I said nothing, knowing he would elaborate.

And he did.

"Between Albus' knowledge and the available data on the soul anchors." I snorted at his use of the Headmaster's first name. "There are no real ways of destroying it without killing you in the process."

I frowned. "So? We know this."

"Be patient." Red chided. "I'm trying to explain it all to you."

I sighed and let him continue.

"I wasn't able to reach a percentage higher than 20% with any method involving destruction." Red continued. "But, what if I was going about this the wrong way?"

"Destruction is the only way." I dryly replied.

"Correction." Red disagreed. "It is the only _known_ way."

That stopped me short. "What else is there?"

"Think about it." Red said, generating a familiar looking diary in his hands. "What was this trying to do?"

"It tried to possess Ginny." I replied. "It wanted to come back to life by…"

My eyes widened at the revelation.

"You understand, then?" Red's eyes gleamed with pride and approval. "The soul piece in the diary would have transferred into your friend Ginny's body. This means—"

"They can be moved into other mediums!" I finished, already feeling better with the revelation.

"Now, don't get too excited." Red raised his hands. "This idea is still very rough, and I'll have to do a lot of study on what needs to be done to accomplish a transference."

I understood what he was saying, but that still didn't stop the smile from reaching my face.

"Thank you for telling me this."

"Thank me by asking the wonderful Luna to the Ball." Red replied with.

"You know." I got up, recalling my companions and placing the Pokéballs on my belt. "Maybe I will."

oooo

According to the Map, Luna was currently in the Transfiguration classroom, so asking her right now was out of the question, lest I suffer my Head of House's displeasure.

Instead, I decided I'd wander around the school.

It had been a while since I'd simply enjoyed a nice walk.

Lately, my days were filled with studying Slytherin's works, training my Pokémon and researching the various creatures in the Great Lake.

Luna had been a godsend, in that regard, with her extensive knowledge on the zoology of Hogwarts and its surrounding lands.

The lake's creatures would prove to be a challenge, but I would definitely be able to deal with it.

By then, Squirtle will have evolved, and I'll have mastered the Bubblehead Charm.

It was a shame that we didn't have access to the **Hidden Machine: Dive** , but there was no going around it.

That was something that had surprised me. You could actually install knowledge into a Pokémon's brain using specially made discs.

According to Red, that had been a marvel of technology and Aura.

The ability to instantly teach your Pokémon moves which they are able to use effectively had been a game changer in the old days— or so Red said.

The man was fond of impromptu history lessons and neat little anecdotes.

To be honest, they were beginning to grow on me, as well.

The people of that time were just like us. They craved adventure and prized learning. They built communities and raised families to leave a legacy.

And now their only legacy was a few Pokéballs and a Pokédex. It was saddening, in a way, but it also meant that part of them still survived to this day.

I planned to keep that part of them alive, as long as I could— perhaps even continue the legacy.

 _Ambitious goal, there._ My own voice said slyly. _Almost like a Slytherin._

 _Since when does Slytherin have the monopoly on ambition?_ I shook my head as I turned a corner—

Only for something to slam into me and knock me down. _This feels familiar._

I went down with a cry that was most definitely manly. Protecting my head as well as I could, I weathered the impact and quickly got to my feet, ready for anything.

I blinked, emerald green eyes meeting sky blue.

It was the Slytherin girl who'd asked me to train her. She looked a mix of mortified and satisfied— shock at the knockdown but elation that it was me?

"We need to stop meeting like this." I started with.

"Potter." She greeted stiffly.

"Greengrass." I replied, watching her eyes widen in surprise.

"Took the time to learn my name, then?" She schooled her features back into something resembling calm.

It would need some work.

"Well." I cleared my throat as I dusted myself off. "I suppose I had to, considering your sudden interest in learning from someone who's a member of a House you hate."

She didn't reply to that. Did she expect I would reject her out of hand? I frowned.

Perhaps I was letting my intense dislike of Malfoy and my recent tumultuous emotions get in the way.

"Do you still want to learn?" I stared into her eyes, fighting down the blush that normally comes with doing something like this. She was a beautiful girl, after all.

"..." She stared back, surprised but guarded. "I do."

As far as I could tell, she didn't seem like she was lying to me. Of course, there was only one way to tell.

"Meet me here, tomorrow, then." I decided, ignoring the light that sprang in those blue eyes and the satisfied curl of her lips. "Same time as now."

She nodded twice, before adjusting her robes and walking past me. I turned and watched her walk away for a few moments, before moving on.

"Do you think this could be a trick?" I asked quietly. "Maybe another prank by Malfoy?"

"Hard to say." Red replied just as quietly.

"She did wear that bloody badge." I noted with a sour note.

"It could have been peer pressure." Red said. "Worse things have been done for less."

I let out a frustrated huff, still struggling with that particular sore point. "I can understand others bullying you into doing something, but it reminds me too much of my early days with Dudley."

"I understand." Red replied. "I've had similar experiences on that front. Maybe this could be a chance to make a friend out of a Slytherin, or have one less possible enemy to worry about."

I opened my mouth to reply, but I didn't have anything to say. I knew, on some level, that not all Slytherins were bad people.

Just look at Pettigrew, he was a Gryffindor, but cowardly and opportunistic. Snape was a bully, especially to me, but at the same time, he'd kept me alive in First Year.

There were bad eggs in that House, to be sure, but damn if people like McLaggen didn't get on my nerves, too— an outspoken braggart in Gryffindor who just made you want to punch him in the face.

I let out a breath and resumed my walk, greeting a few classmates as I passed them by.

I was checking the Map every so often, seeing if Luna was finished with classes.

I had to admit to feeling a well of nervousness spring up at the thought of actually asking her.

I hoped our recent friendship wouldn't suffer for it. The thought made me stop for a moment, before shaking my head.

There was no way she'd terminate our friendship over something so trivial, but the nervousness over the remote possibility stubbornly remained.

My thoughts settled as I focused my attention on the many portraits lining the walls.

Watching them go about their daily routines was still just as strange as the first time I'd done it.

I wondered how similar these paintings were to Red's consciousness, or even the ghosts.

The general consensus of the wizarding world was that portraits of people didn't actually contain the essence of those who had passed.

It made sense. The process to create a Horcrux was a grisly one, to say the least.

Still, I couldn't help but wonder at the possibility of these paintings developing personalities and thoughts of their own over time.

Red's scan had once shown that they drew energy from Hogwarts castle, itself. My thoughts immediately focused on the moving staircases, which always seemed to have a mind of their own.

"Anything interesting on your mind?" Red interrupted my musing. "You've been still for a while."

"Oh." I felt a little sheepish as I stretched my legs. "I was only thinking about the portraits."

"Interesting works of Aura." Red agreed. "A person's… essence imparted in the painting, but not quite… the _other_ thing."

My lips pursed at the thought of Horcruxes. "I don't think they teach the process at Hogwarts."

"I'm sure it's in the library, somewhere." Red seemed sure. "How else would the Creevey boy figure it out?"

"That's fair." I resumed my walk, still stretching the kinks out.

"They are definitely sentient, but I'm not sure if it's the product of the magic used in their creation, or if they slowly learned to be this way." Red continued his musings. "Your own photo album is a good example. They cannot speak and seem to be locked in a loop. Unlike the paintings, they don't respond to any outside stimulus."

I frowned. "Maybe it's something worth researching. Essence transference may not be exactly what we're looking for, but—"

"The method with which it's done could be repurposed." Red finished. "Good thinking, Harry. This could be the key."

I smiled to myself, checking the Map to see if Luna had finished her class yet.

I found her in one of the hallways near the Transfiguration classroom, trying to move while a few names stood around her.

Marietta Edgecombe. Cho Chang. A few others.

I frowned, unsure as to what that was about, but made my way to them, regardless.

It was a minute or so until I reached the scene in question.

"—give it back!" Luna's distressed voice hit my ears.

"How about you make me?" Another girl's voice replied, while the others laughed and giggled at Luna's predicament.

"It's special to me, give it back!" Luna tried.

"Oh, it's special?" The girl holding the butterbeer cap necklace, a thin girl with reddish-blonde, curly hair, had a wicked smile on her face. "It looks like it belongs in the trash, though. I shall save you the trouble and dispose of it, myself."

"No!" Luna cried out as the girl in question pointed her wand at the necklace.

I went into action as soon as she started implying that she was going to destroy the necklace.

In a moment, my Disarming Charm hit the bully with great force, both her wand and the necklace flying to my hand as she went flying back.

The group surrounding Luna turned to me with a look of shock.

Luna's eyes met mine, before flitting towards the necklace in my grasp. I gestured for her to come.

Poor girl was so scared and distressed, she almost bowled me over in her rush.

"It's okay, Luna." I said quietly. "I'm sorry I had to interfere."

She didn't say anything, but took the offered necklace and stood beside me, looking in every direction but the group ahead of her.

"Is this how Ravenclaw spends its free time?" I asked casually.

"Stay out of this, Potter." One of the Ravenclaws, one of the upper years, mouthed off.

"Or else, what?" I challenged, feeling a great swell of amusement at this idiot's threatening tone. "More powerful than a dragon, are you?"

He didn't answer, though the tightness of his posture spoke a great deal on its own.

I watched as Chang helped the girl I'd disarmed get back to her feet. "And what do you think about this, Chang?"

She stammered a few times, before shutting her mouth, not having expected me to behave in this way. She'd caught me staring at her a few times, the year before.

A quick glance at the Map confirmed the girl with reddish hair was the Edgecombe girl. With a nod, I took Luna with me, away from the group and towards the moving staircases, ignoring their cries to return Edgecombe's wand.

"Harry…" Luna seemed even more afraid than before.

"I know." I said quietly, dropping the girl's wand at the top of the staircase. "They'll escalate, for sure. I have a few ideas."

I scrawled the bullies' names onto a spare piece of parchment and checked over the Map until I'd found the two names I had been looking for, before dragging Luna along with me for the ride.

"Where are we going?" Luna asked nervously. I stopped for a moment to look at the frazzled girl.

"Don't worry." I smiled. "I know that going to the professors does absolutely nothing but make it worse."

She sagged at that, before her look turned curious. "Where, then?"

I smiled at her, a hint of vindictiveness lacing the expression. It seemed to shock her slightly.

"Well, the only real way to deal with a bully is by standing up to them." I said as we reached the Library, from which a certain pair of twins were exiting.

"If it isn't our dear friend, Harry!" Fred greeted.

"Dear, me, George; Harry does look a mite miffed." Oh, so it had been George who greeted me.

"Could it have anything to do with the lovely lass at his side?" George gave me a smirk, likely remembering what Hermione insinuated at the Great Hall. "Hello Luna."

"Fred, George." She addressed the two boys carefully. Eccentric she may have been, but even she knew not to mess with these particular lads.

Smart girl.

"I have a favor I need to ask you." I didn't beat around the bush, handing them my hastily scrawled list of names. "I want you to prank these people for as long as you can. I don't want you holding back at all."

The two twins regarded me carefully. I'd never asked them to do anything like this. As their gaze strayed to the obviously distraught looking girl, understanding slowly came to them.

"Very well." Fred took the list. "You may have to wait a bit for the showy stuff."

"That's fine." I nodded, reaching into one of my pockets and pulling a handful of Galleons, giving it to the surprised pair. "Hold nothing back."

"I knew there was a reason we liked you, Harry!" George grinned. Fred, on the other hand, caught my gaze and nodded suggestively towards Luna, urging me to stop wasting time and ask her to the Ball.

I stifled a snort, shook their hands, and away they went.

"Is this really a good idea, Harry?" Luna asked me as we watched them leave. "I know how bad they can get."

"I do, too." I agreed. "This should teach them to stay away from you, though."

"I hope so." Luna said, still unsure.

A quiet permeated the air as we both stood outside of the Library, quickly growing awkward.

"So…" Luna said.

 _Now or never._

"Youwanttogototheballwithme?" I asked quickly.

Luna blinked, looking up at me in surprise? "What?"

I swallowed, blushing. "Um… Do you want to go to the Ball with me?"

"Oh." She looked away. "Harry, I…"

Oh, no. I felt a nervous lump settle in my throat.

"Yes. I'll go with you." She turned back to me.

"Great! I mean." I cleared my throat. "That's great. Um… Are you done with classes?"

She nodded.

"Do you want to look for more creatures?"

Another nod.

"Oh." I smiled. This was easier than I thought. "Let's go, then!"

Now, if only I knew how to dance...


End file.
